These Are The 10 Snowiest Cities In New York

This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. Don’t freak out.

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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. Sure, a Saturday morning right after a foot of fluffy snow is the best thing ever.
But for the most part, this is about the time of year when we’re just about ready for Spring.
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 cities with a decent amount of people in them, we came up with this list as The 10 Snowiest Cities In New York:

Oswego
Rome
Watertown
Fairmount
Geddes
Onondaga
De Witt
Cicero
Salina
Syracuse

Read on below to see where your town ranked, you snow angels. (For smaller cities, Concord, a small town south of Buffalo, won with 164 inches. These are all for places with more than 10,000 people or more.)

What snow measuring criteria did we use?

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 City 24 inches a year, Buffalo 82 inches, Rochester 86 inches, Ithaca 66 inches, Albany 40 inches. There’s a complete chart at the bottom.

1. Oswego

Flickr user Doug Kerr

Population: 18,140
Annual snowfall: 120 inches

2. Rome

Flickr user Russ Nelson

Population: 33,562
Annual snowfall: 107 inches

3. Watertown

Flickr user wtrtwnguy

Population: 27,766
Annual snowfall: 106 inches

4. Fairmount

Flickr user Paul

Population: 10,702
Annual snowfall: 100.6 inches

5. Geddes

Flickr user ironmike9

Population: 17,088
Annual snowfall: 100.3 inches

6. Onondaga

Flickr user Jim Larrison

Population: 23,885
Annual snowfall: 100.1 inches

7. De Witt

Flickr user Jeffrey Beal

Population: 229,749
Annual snowfall: 100 inches

8. Cicero

Flickr user Zor Blaz

Population: 9,864
Annual snowfall: 100 inches

9. Salina

Flickr user Jeff Ward

Population: 18,585
Annual snowfall: 99.7 inches

10. Syracuse

Flickr user Matt C

Population: 17,261
Annual snowfall: 99.6 inches
Climbing out from under the data
If you’re measuring the locations in New York State with the most snowfall every year, this is an accurate list.
If you’re curious, here are the places that get the least amount of snow in New York:

Mount Pleasant – 11 inches
Ossining – 11.2 inches
New Castle – 11.2 inches
North Castle – 11.4 inches
Brentwood – 20 inches

Below is a complete chart with the snowfall data for each New York City:

City	Snowfall Inches Per Year	Rank
Oswego	120	1
Rome	107	2
Watertown	106	3
Fairmount	100	4
Geddes	100	5
Onondaga	100	6
De Witt	100	7
Cicero	100	8
Salina	100	9
Clay	100	10
Syracuse	100	11
Lancaster	99	12
Elma	99	13
West Seneca	99	14
Jamestown	98	15
Fulton	97	16
Kirkland	92	17
Whitestown	92	18
Eggertsville	92	19
Clarence	92	20
Cortland	91	21
Auburn	89	22
Oneida	87	23
Sullivan	87	24
Van Buren	86	25
Lysander	86	26
Greece	86	27
Ogden	86	28
Chili	86	29
Brighton	86	30
Henrietta	86	31
Irondequoit	86	32
Rochester	86	33
Batavia	85	34
Chenango	84	35
Depew	82	36
Lackawanna	82	37
Cheektowaga	82	38
Amherst	82	39
Buffalo	82	40
Kenmore	82	41
Grand Island	82	42
North Tonawanda	82	43
Tonawanda	82	44
Oneonta	78	45
Gloversville	78	46
Utica	76	47
Fallsburg	76	48
German Flatts	72	49
Fredonia	70	50
Dunkirk	70	51
Pomfret	70	52
Massena	70	53
Ontario	69	54
Lockport	69	55
Wheatfield	67	56
Niagara Falls	67	57
Ithaca	66	58
Schodack	65	59
Queensbury	65	60
Malta	64	61
Saratoga Springs	64	62
Kingsbury	63	63
Glens Falls	63	64
Plattsburgh	63	65
Halfmoon	63	66
Guilderland	63	67
Olean	63	68
Rotterdam	62	69
Glenville	62	70
Clifton Park	62	71
Schenectady	62	72
Geneva	61	73
Farmington	57	74
Mamakating	57	75
Moreau	57	76
Thompson	57	77
Wilton	57	78
Beekman	57	79
East Fishkill	57	80
Ogdensburg	55	81
Endwell	55	82
Endicott	55	83
Vestal	55	84
Union	55	85
Amsterdam	54	86
Evans	53	87
Sweden	52	88
Parma	52	89
Johnson City	52	90
Binghamton	52	91
Corning	51	92
Penfield	47	93
Perinton	47	94
Wawarsing	47	95
Brunswick	47	96
Cohoes	47	97
Troy	47	98
Arcadia	46	99
Elmira	43	100
Lloyd	43	101
Poughkeepsie	43	102
Woodbury	43	103
Ulster	42	104
Kingston	42	105
Middletown	42	106
Shawangunk	41	107
Beacon	41	108
Newburgh	41	109
Patterson	41	110
Kent	41	111
Southeast	41	112
Carmel	41	113
North Greenbush	40	114
Blooming Grove	40	115
Bethlehem	40	116
Albany	40	117
Haverstraw	39	118
Stony Point	39	119
Jefferson Valley-Yorktown	39	120
Somers	39	121
Peekskill	39	122
Yorktown	39	123
Cortlandt	39	124
La Grange	38	125
Wappinger	38	126
Mount Kisco	38	127
Putnam Valley	38	128
Highlands	38	129
Cornwall	38	130
Kiryas Joel	38	131
Dobbs Ferry	36	132
Tarrytown	36	133
Orangetown	36	134
Greenburgh	36	135
Rye	34	136
Scarsdale	34	137
Mamaroneck	34	138
Eastchester	34	139
White Plains	34	140
Mount Vernon	34	141
New Rochelle	34	142
Yonkers	34	143
Canandaigua	31	144
Roosevelt	31	145
Floral Park	31	146
West Hempstead	31	147
Garden City	31	148
Franklin Square	31	149
Elmont	31	150
Hempstead	31	151
Harrison	30	152
Port Chester	30	153
Middle Island	29	154
North Bellport	29	155
Patchogue	29	156
Mastic Beach	29	157
Mastic	29	158
Farmingville	29	159
Holtsville	29	160
Selden	29	161
East Patchogue	29	162
Shirley	29	163
Medford	29	164
Coram	29	165
Ridge	27	166
Riverhead	27	167
Manorville	27	168
Hampton Bays	27	169
Bellmore	27	170
Lynbrook	27	171
Merrick	27	172
Baldwin	27	173
Rockville Centre	27	174
Oceanside	27	175
Long Beach	27	176
Freeport	27	177
Wyandanch	25	178
North Wantagh	25	179
North Lindenhurst	25	180
Salisbury	25	181
North Merrick	25	182
Jericho	25	183
New Cassel	25	184
South Farmingdale	25	185
Westbury	25	186
Seaford	25	187
Port Washington	25	188
Bethpage	25	189
Massapequa Park	25	190
Wantagh	25	191
North Amityville	25	192
East Massapequa	25	193
Syosset	25	194
Huntington	25	195
North Massapequa	25	196
Melville	25	197
North Bellmore	25	198
Copiague	25	199
Massapequa	25	200
Uniondale	25	201
Plainview	25	202
Glen Cove	25	203
Lindenhurst	25	204
Huntington Station	25	205
East Meadow	25	206
Hicksville	25	207
West Babylon	25	208
Levittown	25	209
North New Hyde Park	25	210
Mineola	25	211
North Hempstead	25	212
New York	24	213
West Haverstraw	24	214
Suffern	24	215
Pearl River	24	216
Monsey	24	217
Nanuet	24	218
Spring Valley	24	219
New City	24	220
Clarkstown	24	221
Ramapo	24	222
Lewisboro	22	223
Mount Sinai	21	224
Miller Place	21	225
Terryville	21	226
St. James	21	227
Stony Brook	21	228
Rocky Point	21	229
Setauket-East Setauket	21	230
Kings Park	21	231
East Northport	21	232
North Valley Stream	21	233
Woodmere	21	234
Valley Stream	21	235
Bohemia	20	236
Elwood	20	237
Lake Grove	20	238
Babylon	20	239
Greenlawn	20	240
Nesconset	20	241
East Islip	20	242
Sayville	20	243
North Babylon	20	244
Islip	20	245
Ronkonkoma	20	246
North Bay Shore	20	247
Lake Ronkonkoma	20	248
Hauppauge	20	249
Smithtown	20	250
Dix Hills	20	251
Holbrook	20	252
Deer Park	20	253
Bay Shore	20	254
West Islip	20	255
Centereach	20	256
Commack	20	257
Central Islip	20	258
Brentwood	20	259
North Castle	11	260
New Castle	11	261
Ossining	11	262
Mount Pleasant	11	263

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.

0 thoughts on “These Are The 10 Snowiest Cities In New York”

Mac says:

December 26, 2017 at 10:44 am

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.

Dave says:

March 6, 2018 at 4:06 pm

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.