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Sure, a Saturday morning right after a foot of fluffy snow is the best thing ever. But that same amount of snow on Tuesday in New York can make a commute last forever. So just imagine it's the dead of winter, and the time of year when the ground is frozen, the air is bone chilling, and there are piles of dirty, nasty ice encrusted snow all over the place.
This is about the time of year when you're just about ready for spring -- especially in Oswego, the snowiest place in New York.
So, put on your parkas, snow boots and your gloves and let's go outside to see which New York cities get dumped on the most every year. After analyzing all the cities in New York with a decent amount of people in them, we came up with this list as the 10 snowiest cities in Empire State.
The 10 Snowiest Cities In New York For 2021
What's the snowiest place in New York with more than 5,000 people? That would be Oswego with an average annual snowfall of 136.6 inches.
Read on below to see where your town ranked, you snow angels.
And if you already knew these places were snowy, check out the best places to live in New York or the cheapest places in New York.
The 10 Snowiest Cities In New York For 2021
/10
Population: 17,988
Average Annual Snowfall: 136.6 inches
More on Oswego: Real Estate | Cost Of Living
/10
Population: 13,985
Average Annual Snowfall: 130.5 inches
More on Fort Drum: Real Estate | Cost Of Living
/10
Population: 27,250
Average Annual Snowfall: 122.7 inches
More on Watertown: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
/10
Population: 10,881
Average Annual Snowfall: 118.3 inches
More on Fredonia: Real Estate | Cost Of Living
/10
Population: 144,564
Average Annual Snowfall: 110.6 inches
More on Syracuse: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
/10
Population: 11,713
Average Annual Snowfall: 109.8 inches
More on Fulton: Real Estate | Cost Of Living
/10
Population: 10,106
Average Annual Snowfall: 108.3 inches
More on Fairmount: Real Estate | Cost Of Living
/10
Population: 7,692
Average Annual Snowfall: 108.3 inches
More on Baldwinsville: Real Estate | Cost Of Living
/10
Population: 6,641
Average Annual Snowfall: 108.3 inches
More on North Syracuse: Real Estate | Cost Of Living
/10
Population: 6,490
Average Annual Snowfall: 108.3 inches
More on Solvay: Real Estate | Cost Of Living
How We Determined The Cities In New York With The Most Snow
In order to rank the snowiest cities in New York, we only had to scrape the database of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), to see which cities in the Empire State get the most annual snowfall.
Before we get too far, here are the annual snowfall rates for major cities:
- New York -- 25.4 inches
- Buffalo -- 88.6 inches
- Rochester -- 85.0 inches
There's a complete chart at the bottom.
If you're curious, here are the places that get the least amount of snow in New York with at least snow snowfall:
- Carle Place -- 20.4 inches
- East Garden City -- 20.7 inches
- Uniondale -- 21.3 inches
For more New York reading, check out:
- Best Places To Raise A Family In New York
- Best Places To Retire In New York
- Best Places To Live In New York
Chris,
Nice work. But you would improve usefulness by including more maps. Also you must stop using the generic photos on every page. A ‘contact us’ wouldn’t hurt but the list at the bottom of the page helps. I’ll tell you, I know it’s a lot of work but the ability to uncheck some criteria like weather in a table showing your data points, and the ability to re-rank is fantastic. Can’t think of a site offhand that does that. Good luck.
Research is important work, and providing fake information harms progress. Providing “Friday Night Science” as fact through a semi-permanent fixture on the internet makes for a more confused population.
I would love to see your sources on the list, as they match no official data… and your images are not anywhere in NY.
#4 to #10 are all the immediate Syracuse metro area… and only one is a city… Syracuse. One of the locations is not even a municipality. It is an unincorporated area and postal name. Fairmount is a portion of the Town of Camillus, a town not in your list. Kind of like you don’t have Buffalo in the list, but include the nearby Town of Clarence. I do agree that Oswego should be listed separately, but it is also part of the Syracuse MSA, so is not in my list below.
There is a reason most official lists only include the main municipality in a metro area… so it is not full of one specific area. Someone living in Cicero or DeWitt will tell someone not from the area that they live in Syracuse.
Your images are not from the image attribution lists you have linked.
#10 is not Syracuse, it is South Lyon, MI https://goo.gl/maps/DEhiYaLVFZs . However Syracuse does have a unique traffic light, as seen at this link: https://goo.gl/maps/nwV1JdYmJu42
#9 is a mall in Gilbert, AZ https://goo.gl/maps/MTWq64pWfNs
#8 is Westfield, NJ https://goo.gl/maps/4i4dkTZe3932
#7 is Yountville, CA https://goo.gl/maps/JfjJmZhkqbp (Intersection was recently rebuilt, but Hurley’s Restaurant is visible in both)
#6 is Wilmore, KY https://goo.gl/maps/R1367EHrN4Q2
#5 is Snow Hill, MD https://goo.gl/maps/cABg2SEw4ux
#4 is Smithsburg, MD… and I don’t think Lisa on flickr would want to be known as Paul, like you have listed.
#3 is Hemet, CA (palm trees in NY would be nice though) https://goo.gl/maps/PBYea6B3AdG2
#2 is Elkhart, IN https://goo.gl/maps/Kyqe1ZXC1oC2
#1 is Decatur, TX https://goo.gl/maps/Ss9926fgeCM2
Let’s use the metropolitan statistical areas (12 of them) in NY, and the official averages.
Syracuse (663K pop.): 123.8″
Watertown (116K pop): 112.1″
Rochester (1.1M pop.): 99.5″
Buffalo (1.1M pop.): 94.7″
Utica (299K pop.): 88.3″
Binghamton (252K pop.): 83.4″
Glens Falls (129K pop.): 68.0″
Ithaca (102K pop.): 64.4″
Elmira (89K pop.): 37.9″
Albany (871K pop.): 59.1″
Kingston/Poughkeepsie (182K pop.): 32.8″
New York City (13M pop.): 25.1″
Want the actual snowiest areas? Look at the sparsely populated Tug Hill area (between Syracuse and Watertown) with over 200 inches on average, with a record of 466 inches (almost 39 feet) in the 1976-77 snow season… or the community of Old Forge with an average of 177.3″. Oswego is 137″ on average, so would beat Syracuse too, but is not it’s own metro area.
Your site could be a great resource, if data was not thrown together randomly as opinion, with no sources, incorrect data, and wrong imagery.