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    • These towns in upstate New York are among the snowiest in America. See the list
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    These towns in upstate New York are among the snowiest in America. See the list

    Pabio Posted on

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    You don’t need to tell New Yorkers twice that the state’s winters are snowy, but, according to USA TODAYWestern New York has some of the snowiest places in the United States

    USA TODAY looked at weather records from cities big and small to find some of the snowiest places in the country and found that Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo reign supreme.

    Here’s what you need to know.

    Three New York cities are at the center of snow

    Among large cities with at least 100,000 residents, three in Western New York take the prize for snowiest cities, according to National Weather Service data:

    • Syracuse, New York
    • Rochester, New York
    • Buffalo, New York

    Thanks mainly to lake-effect snow, the snowiest major city in the United States is Syracuse, New York, which gets about 11 feet of snow per winter season, the National Weather Service said. It is also one of the rainiest and cloudiest cities in the country. Other cities in Western New York, like Rochester and Buffalo, average about 9 feet per year, again due to the lake effect.

    All three are found in traditional lake-effect snow belts, with cold westerly winds crossing the relatively warm Great Lakes, the Old Farmer’s Almanac said.

    Latest snowfall forecast for New York: How much snow will your area receive?

    Lake effect snow in New York: a machine

    When snow accumulates in places like Syracuse or Buffalo in Western New York, people start talking about a “lake effect snow machine.” But what exactly is lake effect snow? How is it going?

    Lake-effect snow, which can last from minutes to days, develops from narrow bands of clouds that form when cold, dry arctic air passes over a large lake relatively soft.

    When cold air passes over the unfrozen, “warm” waters of the Great Lakes, heat and moisture are transferred to the lower part of the atmosphere, the National Weather Service says. The air rises and clouds form and turn into narrow bands that produce 2 to 3 inches of snow per hour or more.

    These snows usually only occur in the fall or early winter, before the lakes freeze over. (But if the lakes don’t freeze, lake-effect snow can occur throughout the winter and into spring.)

    Snowvember at 10 years old: The numbers that defined the snow event that buried Buffalo

    “Lake-effect snow generated by the Great Lakes is among the heaviest snowfall in the world,” Weather.com meteorologist Jonathan Erdman said in an online report.

    One of the most notable lake-effect snowfalls in New York State occurred over a 10-day period from February 3 to 12, 2007, when 141 inches of snow (or 11.75 feet ) were measured in the town of Redfield, New York. York, about 50 miles northeast of Syracuse, Erdman said.

    Emily Barnes reports on consumer issues for the USA TODAY Network’s New York Connect team, focusing on topics related to scams and recalls. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @byemilybarnes. Contact us at [email protected].

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