Main Street in Findley Lake is decorated for Christmas, complete with more than enough snow.

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

According to Dr. Lin Baylis, Executive Director of Community Connections at Findley Lake, the total snowfall from Black Friday until the morning of Wednesday, Dec. 4, measured 79 inches. And it has continued to fall . . .

Baylis said the total snowfall for the winter of 2023-24 was only 94 inches, which is about a foot more than the accumulated total for this year. She has been helping to keep track of snowfall amounts since 2001, she said, when Bill Boria, former county water resource specialist at the Chautauqua County Health Department started a weather station in Findley Lake.

Baylis said the equipment is hardly scientific. “That would be a snow box and ruler,” she said. “The snow box was built by Bill, according to the weather standards of the time. I measure the snow in the box in each corner and the middle and then take an average.”

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

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

Although this winter is “off to a great start,” it has a long way to go to beat the record in the Town of Mina. Bayliss reports that, since she began keeping track of snowfall totals, the record was in 2008 at 306 inches.

Baylis is co-founder of Community Connections at Findley Lake, which seeks to connect area residents, especially the elderly, with services they need. The heavy snowfall has not impaired the work of the organization, she said.

“We instituted our Code Blue emergency calls,” Baylis said. “All of our staff made wellness check calls to our clients. Several trips to the grocery stores and pharmacies were made by our staff and our volunteers as soon as we could get out. One of our college students, Greg Brumagin spent a great deal of time helping to shovel pathways and driveways to assist.”

If you speak to people on the street about the snowfall, chances are many of them will say they are already tired of snow, but not Bayliss. “You always worry about the safety of everyone, but I personally love it!” she said. “We need snow for the economy and for the ecosystem in this area. I say ‘bring it on.'”