America's Six Snowiest Cities (VIDEO)

http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/snowiest-six-cities_2011-11-29



Statistically speaking, which locations really are America's snowiest cities? Just to set your frame of reference, the following are average annual snowfalls for some major cities that may come to mind first:

Average yearly snow

Syracuse 128"
Buffalo 96.1"
Cleveland 68.3"
Denver 52.8"
Boston 45.1"
Chicago 37.7"
New York City 26.7"

We examined 30-year average annual snowfall data from NOAA's National Climatic Data Center to come up with a list of America's Six Snowiest Cities.

We limited the list to cities with populations of at least 1,000 as of the latest census data. Unincorporated towns, mountains, national parks and ranger stations were not included.
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Tucked in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains, Boonville (in the above pic (1943)), N.Y., the self-proclaimed "Snow Capital of the East", represents one of America's most prolific snowbelts.

Snow stats

- Average yearly snow: 193.7"

- Population (2000 census): 4572

- Snowiest month: January (52.9")

- Snowiest day: 35" (1/12/1978)

- Record depth: 80" (3/11/1971)

It is the Lake Ontario snowbelt that holds many short-term U.S. snowfall records. For example, consider the following snow rates in nearby Oswego, N.Y. on Jan. 26, 1972:

- 17.5" in 2 hours
- 9.1" in 1 hour
- 4.8" in 30 minutes
- 2.4" in 15 minutes