“As for May, measurable snow is very, very rare here,” said Steve McLaughlin, a retired meteorologist from the National Weather Service and local weather guru. “It hasn’t happened at all in 30 years. So, it’s safe to say that we will win the contest.”

In other words: Syracuse needs a buzzer-beater more historic than Dwayne “Pearl” Washington’s famous half-court shot from 1984.

Or something like Buffalo's memorable Mother's Day 1989.

Records for late-season snowfall were shattered May 7-8, 1989, when as much as a foot of heavy, wet snow fell across Western New York. The snow knocked down trees and power lines and even some roofs collapsed under the weight of the snow, according to weather service reports.

The federal Climate Prediction Center projects that the first two weeks of May will be anomalously cool across upstate New York.

Even so, forecasters said it’s unlikely to generate much, if any, snowfall. How come?