The main street in Findley Lake is decorated for Christmas and there is more than enough snow.

FINDLEY LAKE — Winter officially begins Dec. 21, but in Findley Lake, like so many towns along the Great Lakes, winter weather came hard and fast the day after Thanksgiving.

According to Dr. Lin Baylis, executive director of Community Connections at Findley Lake, total snowfall from Black Friday through the morning of Wednesday, Dec. 4, was 79 inches. And it has continued to decline. . .

Baylis said total snowfall for the winter of 2023-24 was just 94 inches, which is about a foot more than the cumulative total for that year. She has been helping keep track of snowfall amounts, she said, since 2001, when Bill Boria, former Chautauqua County water resources specialist, opened a weather station in Findley Lake.

Baylis said the equipment was hardly scientific. “It would be a snow box and a ruler,” she said. “The snowbox was built by Bill according to the weather standards of the time. I measure the snow in the box in every corner and center and then calculate an average.”

After each measurement, the box is cleared of snow until the next snowfall, Baylis said. “This latest storm required multiple measurements over multiple 24-hour periods,” she said.

Baylis said she began measuring snowfall as a service to the community. “It’s not scientific by any means, but I can tell you that the measurements are an accurate representation of what fell in our yard,” she said. “It’s amazing how different the snowfall can be from the southwest end of Shadyside Road to Main Street in town. The squalls that come through can be very specific to a single area.”

Although this winter is “off to a great start,” there is still a long way to go to break the record in the city of Mina. Bayliss reports that the record was 306 inches in 2008 since she began tracking snow totals.

Baylis is co-founder of Community Connections at Findley Lake, which aims to connect residents, particularly seniors, with the services they need. The heavy snowfall did not affect the organization’s work, she said.

“We initiated our Code Blue emergency calls,” Baylis said. “All our employees have carried out health checks on our customers. As soon as we were able to get out, our staff and volunteers made several trips to grocery stores and pharmacies. One of our college students, Greg Brumagin, spent a lot of time helping shovel paths and driveways.”

If you talk to people on the street about the snowfall, many of them will probably say they’re already sick of the snow, but not Bayliss. “You’re always worried about everyone’s safety, but personally I love it!” she said. “We need snow for the economy and ecosystem in this area. I say, ‘Keep going.'”