SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The race for the title of the Northeast’s snowiest city this winter is heating up. With 90.8 inches of snow through Jan. 20 (33.2 inches above normal), Syracuse, N.Y., is in the lead, according to Keith Eggleston, senior climatologist at Cornell University’s Northeast Regional Climate Center.
And in 2nd place… Behind Syracuse is Erie, Pa., with 88.4 inches of snow so far this season (36.8 inches above normal). But this is far behind Erie’s record snowfall of 110.8 inches set between Oct. 1 and Jan. 20, 1977-78.
The winter snow season for the Northeast officially starts Oct. 1 and ends on May 31. Rochester, N.Y., trails Erie this season by one-tenth of an inch, followed by a surprise player, Albany, N.Y., with 74 inches. This is 44.3 inches above normal for Albany and outpaces its previous record snowfall of 66.4 inches between Oct. 1 and Jan. 20, 1969-70.
Defending champ. Buffalo, N.Y., last year’s snowiest place in the Northeast region, sits in fifth place this season. Currently Buffalo has 71.8 inches of snow, well behind its record-setting snowfall of 142.4 inches (Oct. 1-Jan. 20) in an unforgettable year, 1976-77, when it ultimately snowed 199.4 inches.
Surprisingly, Caribou, Maine, is not in the top 10 right now. With 47.6 inches of snow so far this season, Caribou sits in 11th place, 7.8 inches below normal.
With spring two months away, the amount of snowfall in the Northeast should begin to ease, said Eggleston.
Slowing down. “January is generally the snowiest month in the Northeast and on the average we should begin seeing a trend toward less snowfall as the winter begins to wind down,” he notes.
