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. 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 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 Saturday Night Science, we came up with this list as the 10 snowiest cities in Empire State.
136.6 inches of snow per year
Located in
Oswego County, New York
Oswego is a city in Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 18,142 at the 2010 census. Oswego is located on Lake Ontario in north-central New York and promotes itself as “The Port City of Central New York”. It is the county seat of Oswego County.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
130.5 inches of snow per year
Fort Drum is a U.S. Army military reservation and a census-designated place in Jefferson County, New York, United States. The population was 12,955 at the 2010 census. It is home to the 10th Mountain Division.
122.7 inches of snow per year
Located in
Jefferson County, New York
Watertown is a city in the state of New York and the county seat of Jefferson County. It is situated approximately 20 miles south of the Thousand Islands. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 27,023, an increase of 1.2% since 2000. The U.S. Army post Fort Drum is near the city.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
118.3 inches of snow per year
Located in
Chautauqua County, New York
Fredonia is a village in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 11,230 as of the 2010 census. Fredonia is in the town of Pomfret south of Lake Erie. The village borders the city of Dunkirk and is the home of the State University of New York at Fredonia.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
110.6 inches of snow per year
Located in
Onondaga County, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, in the United States. It is the largest U.S. city with the name “Syracuse”, and is the fifth most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo Rochester and Yonkers. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,252, and its metropolitan area had a population of 662,577. It is the economic and educational hub of Central New York, a region with over one million inhabitants. Syracuse is also well-provided with convention sites, with a downtown convention complex. Syracuse was named after the original Greek city Syracuse, a city on the eastern coast of the Italian island of Sicily.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
109.8 inches of snow per year
Located in
Oswego County, New York
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
108.3 inches of snow per year
108.3 inches of snow per year
Located in
Onondaga County, New York
Baldwinsville is a village in Onondaga County, New York, United States. The population was 7,378 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Syracuse Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
108.3 inches of snow per year
Located in
Onondaga County, New York
North Syracuse is a village in Onondaga County, New York, United States. The population was 6,800 at the 2010 census. North Syracuse is located in the towns of Cicero and Clay, north of the city of Syracuse.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
108.3 inches of snow per year
Located in
Onondaga County, New York
Solvay is a village located in Onondaga County, New York, and a suburb of the city of Syracuse. According to the 2010 census, the village had a total population of 6,584. The village is named after the Solvay brothers, Belgian inventors of the chemical process employed by the Solvay Process Company, formerly the major industry of the village.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is New York’s statewide median.
On the map
Where New York’s snowiest cities are
Saturday Night Science
How We Determined The Cities In New York With The Most Snow
In order to rank the snowiest cities in New York, we used Saturday Night Science and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) database, to see which cities in the Empire State get the most annual snowfall.
We updated this article for 2026. This is our second time ranking the snowiest cities in New York.
Before we get too far, here are the annual snowfall rates for major cities: New York (25.4 inches), Buffalo (88.6 inches), and Rochester (85.0 inches).
The snowiest cities in New York are Oswego, Fort Drum, Watertown, Fredonia, Syracuse, Fulton, Fairmount, Baldwinsville, North Syracuse, and Solvay.
There’s a complete chart at the bottom.
The full plate
Detailed List Of The Snowiest Places In New York
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Snow (Inches) | Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oswego | 136.6 | 17,988 |
| 2 | Fort Drum | 130.5 | 13,985 |
| 3 | Watertown | 122.7 | 27,250 |
| 4 | Fredonia | 118.3 | 10,881 |
| 5 | Syracuse | 110.6 | 144,564 |
| 6 | Fulton | 109.8 | 11,713 |
| 7 | Fairmount | 108.3 | 10,106 |
| 8 | Baldwinsville | 108.3 | 7,692 |
| 9 | North Syracuse | 108.3 | 6,641 |
| 10 | Solvay | 108.3 | 6,490 |
| 11 | Mattydale | 108.3 | 6,434 |
| 12 | Westvale | 108.3 | 5,210 |
| 13 | Rome | 107.5 | 32,916 |
| 14 | Oneida | 106.1 | 11,252 |
| 15 | West Seneca | 105.2 | 45,089 |
| 16 | Lackawanna | 105.2 | 18,019 |
| 17 | Ilion | 105.0 | 8,066 |
| 18 | Jamestown | 104.3 | 30,546 |
| 19 | Saranac Lake | 102.2 | 5,727 |
| 20 | Auburn | 101.3 | 27,264 |
| 21 | Eggertsville | 97.1 | 15,675 |
| 22 | Kenmore | 97.1 | 15,271 |
| 23 | Depew | 97.1 | 15,227 |
| 24 | Tonawanda | 97.1 | 15,000 |
| 25 | East Aurora | 97.1 | 6,251 |
| 26 | Harris Hill | 97.1 | 5,499 |
| 27 | Williamsville | 97.1 | 5,269 |
| 28 | Salamanca | 96.2 | 5,686 |
| 29 | Utica | 90.8 | 61,628 |
| 30 | Cortland | 90.2 | 19,134 |
| 31 | Buffalo | 88.6 | 259,517 |
| 32 | University at Buffalo | 85.9 | 6,174 |
| 33 | Rochester | 85.0 | 210,745 |
| 34 | Dunkirk | 83.9 | 12,308 |
| 35 | North Tonawanda | 83.2 | 31,077 |
| 36 | Greece | 80.5 | 14,568 |
| 37 | North Gates | 80.5 | 9,756 |
| 38 | Brockport | 80.5 | 8,428 |
| 39 | Hilton | 80.5 | 5,936 |
| 40 | Fairport | 80.5 | 5,362 |
| 41 | Niagara Falls | 80.2 | 49,435 |
| 42 | Batavia | 79.1 | 15,188 |
| 43 | Oneonta | 77.5 | 13,862 |
| 44 | Gloversville | 74.4 | 15,293 |
| 45 | Johnstown | 74.3 | 8,500 |
| 46 | South Lockport | 74.1 | 7,788 |
| 47 | Amsterdam | 73.6 | 18,157 |
| 48 | Binghamton | 73.3 | 46,495 |
| 49 | Norwich | 71.9 | 7,032 |
| 50 | Glens Falls North | 71.3 | 8,494 |
| 51 | West Glens Falls | 71.3 | 7,670 |
| 52 | Johnson City | 71.2 | 14,903 |
| 53 | Endicott | 71.2 | 13,143 |
| 54 | Endwell | 71.2 | 11,445 |
| 55 | Lockport | 71.1 | 20,857 |
| 56 | Canandaigua | 65.9 | 10,499 |
| 57 | South Hill | 65.8 | 6,501 |
| 58 | Olean | 65.6 | 14,099 |
| 59 | Glens Falls | 65.5 | 14,496 |
| 60 | Medina | 65.5 | 5,936 |
| 61 | Ithaca | 64.0 | 30,565 |
| 62 | Saratoga Springs | 63.5 | 27,244 |
| 63 | Hornell | 61.9 | 8,471 |
| 64 | Hudson Falls | 61.5 | 7,239 |
| 65 | Ogdensburg | 61.0 | 10,996 |
| 66 | Ballston Spa | 60.8 | 5,256 |
| 67 | Scotia | 60.7 | 7,744 |
| 68 | East Glenville | 60.0 | 6,621 |
| 69 | Monticello | 59.6 | 6,685 |
| 70 | Schenectady | 58.2 | 65,735 |
| 71 | Plattsburgh | 56.9 | 19,845 |
| 72 | Seneca Falls | 56.0 | 6,493 |
| 73 | Highland | 55.8 | 5,189 |
| 74 | Geneva | 54.7 | 13,157 |
| 75 | Albany | 53.6 | 98,468 |
| 76 | Mechanicville | 53.2 | 5,205 |
| 77 | Kingston | 50.9 | 23,625 |
| 78 | Corning | 50.3 | 11,059 |
| 79 | Rensselaer | 49.8 | 9,502 |
| 80 | Westmere | 49.5 | 6,758 |
| 81 | Myers Corner | 46.2 | 6,867 |
| 82 | Fairview CDP (Dutchess County) | 46.2 | 5,700 |
| 83 | Wappingers Falls | 46.2 | 5,424 |
| 84 | Cohoes | 45.7 | 16,281 |
| 85 | Watervliet | 45.4 | 10,241 |
| 86 | Middletown | 45.2 | 27,828 |
| 87 | Lake Carmel | 44.0 | 8,294 |
| 88 | Mahopac | 44.0 | 8,083 |
| 89 | Carmel Hamlet | 44.0 | 6,542 |
| 90 | Troy | 43.4 | 49,933 |
| 91 | Poughkeepsie | 42.9 | 30,635 |
| 92 | Jefferson Valley-Yorktown | 41.8 | 14,923 |
| 93 | Port Jervis | 41.1 | 8,681 |
| 94 | Big Flats | 40.6 | 5,303 |
| 95 | Hudson | 39.6 | 6,572 |
| 96 | Kiryas Joel | 39.4 | 21,749 |
| 97 | Scotchtown | 39.4 | 9,061 |
| 98 | New Windsor | 39.4 | 8,691 |
| 99 | Mechanicstown | 39.4 | 7,130 |
| 100 | Walden | 39.4 | 6,886 |
Source: NOAA snowfall data via Saturday Night Science. 348 New York cities ranked.
Summary
Summary: The Snowiest Cities In New York For 2026
If you’re looking for the New York cities that get buried in snow each winter, this is an accurate list.
The snowiest cities in New York are Oswego, Fort Drum, Watertown, Fredonia, Syracuse, Fulton, Fairmount, Baldwinsville, North Syracuse, and Solvay. Not sold on New York? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Snowiest Cities In New York FAQs
What is the snowiest city in New York?
Oswego is the snowiest city in New York for 2026, with 136.6 inches of snow in an average year, per NOAA data. Fort Drum and Watertown are next.
What are the snowiest cities in New York?
The snowiest cities in New York are Oswego, Fort Drum, Watertown, Fredonia, Syracuse, Fulton, Fairmount, Baldwinsville, North Syracuse, and Solvay. We ranked all 348 New York cities with measurable snowfall.
How much snow do New York’s biggest cities get?
New York averages 25.4 inches of snow a year, Buffalo gets 88.6, and Rochester gets 85.0. Wherever you land in New York, the shovel situation varies a lot.
Which city on the list gets the least snow?
Gates gets the least snow of the 348 New York cities with measurable snowfall. It still made the list, which is more than most of the Sun Belt can say.
Where does the snowfall data come from?
Average annual snowfall comes from NOAA weather station records. Cities are ranked purely on that average — no bonus points for dramatic blizzard stories.
