News Cut: February 6, 2010 Archive

Weather Service wins latest Golden Snowball Challenge round

Posted at 7:17 PM on February 6, 2010 by Bob Collins (7 Comments)
Filed under: Weather

Update 7:14 p.m. - The National Weather Service posted an updated total after this morning's post, so the figures have been recalculated. The National Weather Service, itself, won the latest round, correctly predicting a 2" total. The Golden Snowball Challenge is also looking investigating the exact start time of the storm because Paul Huttner posted a 1-3" prediction on his blog at 5:38 p.m., updating an earlier 2-4" prediction. If the snow started after 5:38 p.m., Huttner will also get 10 points. One other change: Craig Edwards now leads the Senior Division. Craig is also the only member of the Senior Division. KARE 11's Sven Sundgaard aced the first Golden Snowball Challenge leg he participated in to take the lead in the seasonal News Cut competition to determine the most consistently accurate predictor of snowfall in the Twin Cities (or, specifically, St. Paul). Under GSC rules (found here), Sundgaard amassed 9 points with his prediction of (average) 1.5" of snow in the latest snowstorm. The measured total was 1.7".

The total point leader in the competition, however, is KSTP's Patrick Hammer. Here are the results of the latest round:

Update 10 a.m. Sunday - Upon further review, Paul Huttner's 1-3" prediction (average 2") was submitted prior to the beginning of the snow. He shares the storm "win" with the National Weather Service.

Weatherperson	Prediction	Difference	Points
National Wx Service	2	0.0	10
Patrick Hammer(KSTP)	1.5	-0.5	8
Sven Sundgaard (KARE)	1.5	-0.5	8
Chris Shaffer (WCCO)	1.5	-0.5	8
Paul Douglas (MinnPost)	2.5	0.5	0
Mike Augustinyak (WCCO)	3	1.0	-5
Paul Huttner (MPR)	2	0.0	10
Keith Marler (KMSP)	3	1.0	-5
Dave Dahl (KSTP)	3	1.0	-5

And here are the season standings:

Meteorologist	Number of legs	Total Points	Average
Patrick Hammer (KSTP)	3	25	8.3
Sven Sundgaard (KARE)	1	8	8.0
Chikage Windler (KSTP)	1	7	7.0
Mike Fairbourne (WCCO)	1	7	7.0
Paul Huttner (MPR)	4	17	4.3
Jonathan Yuhas (KARE)	2	7	3.5
National Weather Service	4	4	1.0
Paul Douglas (MinnPost)	3	1	0.3
Erik Maitland (KMSP)	1	0	0.0
Chris Shaffer (WCCO)	2	-2	-1.0
Don Moldenhauer (BMTN)	1	-5	-5.0
Belinda Jensen (KARE)	1	-5	-5.0
Ron Trenda (WCCO)	1	-5	-5.0
Mike Augustyniak (WCCO)	2	-10	-5.0
Dave Dahl (KSTP)	2	-10	-5.0
Keith Marler (KMSP)	3	-18	-6.0
Ian Leonard (KMSP)	2	-16	-8.0
Craig Edwards (MPR)	1	-10	-10.0

Meanwhile, the East Coast is getting his with another big storm. They're making a particularly big deal about it in Washington, As much as we might be inclined to giggle, they have a right to. If predictions hold true, the region will have accumulated more snow this year than the Twin Cities.

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