Sunday, October 17, 2010

Web search contest

Despite my smoking' hot search technique, I can't seem to draw a bead on a seemingly simple piece of information:

How much has snowfall in Summit, NJ, changed over the past few decades?

I'd like to go back to before 1970, because I know how the mean overall precipitation has changed since then. But, except for a few record-breaking years, the only snowfall information I can find is averaged.

This information might as well be classified. Just to be sure I wasn't missing something basic, I called in the big guns. I contacted a reference librarian at QandANJ.org. Believe it or not, she couldn't find it either.

I'm pretty sure that the Snow & Ice Management Association has the information. I bet they give it out to members only, given how hard it is to find.

So here's the contest:

Be the first to find me changes in snowfall since, say, 1960. It doesn't have to be just Summit. It can be Union County. Or it can be all New Jersey. I don't need individual year info. It can be decade-over-decade averages.

If you can find that information, you get your choice of delicacy from pastryparadise.com* and my profuse thanks. Good luck.

* Offer valid in continental US and Canada only.

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