381 comments on “All Snowiest US Cities

  1. I check the list periodically. Today I noticed what cities are listed. There isn’t any from New Hampshire, Vermont, or Maine. I know they do get snow, like everyone in the Northeast. Why is that?

    • Hi Toni, Both Maine and Vermont’s cities are all below the 100,000 population requirement to be in this snow contest. This is for bigger cities with at least 100,000 people as of the 2010 census. I do have Manchester, New Hampshire in the lineup though and as of this posting are currently in 18th place.

  2. Hello,

    Just wondering why Portland, OR isn’t listed for the snowiest cities this winter? They just had 8 or 9 inches of snow a few days ago, and they’ve had a few inches in addition to that, a few other times as well.

    Thanks,
    Jodi

    • Hi Jodi,

      I actually just spent a couple of hours yesterday getting all of the info for the 4 Oregon cities that have a population of 100,000 or more yesterday. I also added Portland to the contest and come the next update, hopefully sometime today, you will see them in the line-up :) As of yesterday Portland was number 43 on the snow mountain with 11.7 inches so far this season. Thanks for the heads up,

      Patrick

        • I always have a hard time deciding what to do with NYC Lee. For NYC I have been using either JFK, LaGuardia or Central Park for the city snow stats. Whichever location has the highest snow totals. It was suggested in the past that I add all 3 and I may do it this season if the locations reach the Top 25. Thoughts everyone?

          • Well, Yonkers is just outside of nyc. I think it gets more snow than those 3 spots. My vote would be to pick the one of those three with the highest total and also report Yonkers.

          • I forgot to mention in my previous reply Lee that I did look for snow stats for Yonkers but I couldn’t find any being reported by the National Weather Service. If I can find some official stats I could probably add them in the lineup. Anyone???

  3. Hi again,

    I posted a question the other day, and it said it was pending and then it disappeared. I have checked your 2 sites regularly with my young son for years. We have been confused this season by the discrepancies in the 2 sites, re: Buffalo. Would you please be able to explain this to us.

    Thank you,
    ~ C & E in Syracuse

    • Hi Cathy, I did approve and answer your comment when you posted it. Read through the comments and you should see what I posted.

      Patrick

      • Hi Patrick,

        I scrolled down this entire page of comments on my phone and on my laptop. The most recent comment showing for me is Kimberly from February 2016 and after that the posts go backwards by date. I can’t find mine on here anywhere. Other than this second one I sent. No worries, I know you’re busy. My son is a weather fanatic and he loves this stuff, has met and sometimes contacts Wayne Mahar as well. I’ll have him ask him. Thank you and happy holidays!

        • Hi Cathy, I’m sorry you are having problems seeing the comments. Could be the website design, I’m not sure. I just sent you an email with what I responded back to you the other day. I hope you receive it and a Shout out to your sons :)

          • Cathy, I just logged out on the main section of the site and I am now seeing what you are seeing, which is nothing in regards to your comment and my reply. Sorry about that and it IS on my end and not yours. I’ll work on it today to see if I can fix whatever the problem is :(

  4. I actually do see Buffalo now, but on your Golden Snowball page you have Buffalo listed as 46 inches, and here much lower, and they both are said to be updated on 12/12/16. Confused…

    • Hi Cathy, you should be seeing Binghamton showing 46 inches of snow as of yesterday on the Golden Snowball site believe it or not. Buffalo is off to a slow start with only 6.5 inches as of yesterday but I think that will probably be changing in the next couple of days and most likely will be in the Top 25 pretty soon. I hope this helps :)

  5. Just wondering why not seeing Columbus oh on top 50 if my math is right they have about 15″ for 2015-16 which is way more than abequerque or however you spell it with just over 9″ @ 54

    • Hi Kimberly, I’ve had a few people ask about Columbus so I put them back in the last update. Keep in mind that I am just trying to get the Top 25 right. Any of the cities below are added to just kind of give people an idea what is going on in other states across the US. Kind of just a mix.

      • I’ve been thinking about opening up the site so a couple other people can blog and put out information Dave. No doubt I have dropped the snowball this season as far as making posts on the blog this season. Between trying to keep up a couple other sites (my so called living) and watching my Grandson all day long, it’s been tough. Thanks for the input. Is this Dave B. ?

  6. After four winters here in Erie, I cant say its not been fun but I have had enough of this frigid wind chill and snow ~giggles~ I now understand my fathers choice of why he moved from Van Buren, Maine to Mesa, Arizona. My time in Erie and this site has been fun but alas in mid-march I will be moving back home to Mesa, Arizona to thaw out. I will be nice and let you all keep the snow if I want more I can just as easily drive up to Flagstaff, Arizona :P

    • Just 4 winters hell I did 21 yrs..Erie is way behind barely half way to 100″ when I was growing up in Erie we always had a pool going to see how soon we made it to 100″ each year. My senior year had 68″ just for Dec was not unusual to go 130+ every year. Fond memories 21 white Christmas’s in arow oh yeah and course went to catholic school so bare legs thru it all

    • I don’t blame you Kayli if you didn’t grow up in it. I think you either love it or hate it ;) My son moved to Tucson, AZ which I wasn’t crazy about but he loves it there so I’m happy. I also have a lot of cousins in Mesa who love it. Myself, I’m visiting NC and I sure do miss the winter in Syracuse. Mostly the snow :)

      • Dont get me wrong I do love the snow but moving to Erie just before the winter when I did four years ago, did not give me a chance to get acclimated. This winter has been a nice break though. If I had to give anyone advice when they want to move to the northeast particularly by the great lakes, it would be for them to do it right after the snow season so they had time to adjust before the next snow season. I would probably give similar advice to anyone moving to the desert southwest considering that heat can be intense during the summers.

        lol and before anyone can throw the “but its a dry heat” excuse, i beg to differ, while it may be a drier atmosphere, I promise when you walk out that door from AC to 120 degree temps, that sweat is almost instant. The only advantage is in the shade but even then thats not a permanent solution from that heat :P . Besides we do have our monsoon season as well while temps tend to stay under 110 the humidity can be just as high as anyone else who has high humidity.

        Lol I think my favorite thing is watching people prove a point how intense the heat can be during the summers. Some people will go as far as baking cookies in their cars and eggs on sidewalks XD

        I will miss the great lakes and north east though been some wonderful people up here :)

        • I hear about the heat, DRY HEAT that is from my son in Tucson. I agree with you Kayli. 120 degrees is 120 degrees and for me, no Thanks. I have always loved the change of season in NY and always will. It is a lot more humid in the summer months in NY than it is in AZ but no way could I handle the 100+ temps. Right now I am in NC and this summer was really hot with a lot of 90+ days and it is humid. Unfortunately, no snow though :( You seem pretty happy with your choice and the best to you. As for the people in Erie, I have met a lot of them on here and you are right, they are decent folks ;)

  7. Ah, yes. Through the El Nino season, the King and Queen climb to their rightful places on the throne at 1 and 2 respectively. All hail Lake Effect.

  8. Pingback: Friday Five: Five Snow-Free Winter Activities – Run Away With Me

  9. Great list Patrick! Love to see a 3rd party posting statistics as such provided here. I would definitely however add certain cities to this list, granted you may have many requests for that. You should, in my professional opinion, include at least one city per state, whether over 100,000 or not. Look at Flagstaff AZ for example, it may not be over 100,000 but it is representing Arizona, and is actually one of the snowiest cities in the US so far even receiving MORE snow today. Just a though, love the site. Keep it up!

    Kevin Harris MET

    • Hi Kevin and Thanks for the kind words and suggestions :) Also Thanks for all of the great work you all do not to mention the snow stats from the National Weather Service that power the snow site(s).

      One thing you need to keep in mind is that this is a one man show and unfortunately not like the Weather Channel or news sites that have most likely hundreds of employees and resources to do the research and so on. I do get a lot of requests from several cities in different states and Flagstaff is probably the city that send the most requests. As much as I would love to add them, if I did I would have to drop the population requirement down to 50,000 or so which would make it impossible for me to probably even get an update in yet alone two each day. Right now it takes a couple of hours give or take for each update not to mention time spent answering emails, tweeting and so on. In other words this little hobby site that I started is pretty much full time during the snow season. Plus it’s not automated so I have to go to each of the NWS offices to grab the snow stats each day. I just ended up cutting about a dozen cities today to cut down on time but if I see a snowstorm hitting the areas I do check them out to see if they can be added back in. I will also add some new cities every now and then just to give folks an idea of where it is snowing and how that area of the US is doing.

      I do try to mix it up and cover cities from across the US with 100,000 as I find them or as they are suggested or brought to my attention. This season I added a handful of cities from Texas for a little while when they were getting a decent storm. I try to keep the top 25 as accurate as I can but as you know the lineup is always changing. I have so much respect for the smaller cities and towns that get way more than the bigger cities listed here but it still come down to a one man show trying to keep up along with the great folks that stop by the site with some help and suggestions. I hope this make sense Kevin??? Thanks again Kevin…

    • KJ, I will without a doubt add Allentown back in. I’m in NC right now and was lucky enough to catch part of the beginning of this storm, NOT. We got a decent amount of freezing rain here so I’m without internet and TV right now. As soon as Time Warner gets it going I’ll get an update in and be adding cities :)

  10. Um, wheres Flagstaff AZ? They’re one of the leaders of 2016 for snowfall. My company works in relation with NOAA and their statistic publications, don’t want to get flagged as misleading, now, do we? :] Cheers!

    -Jeremy

    • Excuse the “misleading” note, we noticed the Pop 100,000+ disclaimer after posting. Flagstaff is, however the 3rd largest city in AZ, behind Tucson and the Phoenix Metropolitan area. It would make sense to add Flagstaff to the rankings, even if not in contention for a prize. Cheers!

      • Jeremy, If Flagstaff had the 100,000 population they would be in the snow contest, If I added Flagstaff I would have to add probably 40 more cities. There isn’t enough time in MY day to do all of the cities. I do respect the amount of snowfall though that Flagstaff has received this season and like you mentioned in just 2016 alone.

    • I’m going to stick with my stats for now Giovanni and not Accuweather. I have a better track record ;) Joking. According to the National Weather Service they are showing 1.2 for Cleveland. If they change it I will too..

  11. One glaring omission is Reno. City has 225,000 people and gets an average of 22″ at the low part of the city. After tonight they will be #2 or thereabouts on the list since then got 8″ (and counting).

    • Awesome and Thanks for the heads up Tyler. I’ll add them in the next update. I’m showing 2.4 inches which isn’t counting the overnight and it looks like Reno is still under a winter advisory :) Thanks again!

  12. Im not sure what is measurable snow if that means it sticks or how you can even measure out falling snow that melts on impact but i know yesterday in Erie, Pa we had some snow showers early in the day that came down pretty good briefly but melted almost instantaneously and then last night they called for 1-3 inches overnight. This morning i saw some signs on the vehicles and some patches of grass. It seemed more noticeable on the rooftops though. Not sure how much we got and how much of it was considered measurable snowfall. So if you dont mind me asking what is considered measurable? just what sticks and if not, how is it possible to measure snow that melts on impact?

    • Thanks for the heads up Michael :) It’s always interesting to see which city will start up the snow contest each season with some measurable snow :)

    • Lol, as soon as Syracuse gets that last inch of snow Mike :) Last season I think I was able to call it right around May 1st but it wasn’t as close as it is right now. That would be the earliest I would call it depending on how the long term forecast looks…

  13. If it helps, through 2/28/2015, I’ve recorded 109.3″ in Tyngsboro, MA (town next to Lowell) for the 2014-15 winter.

    • Thanks for the input Bryan.. I made a call yesterday but couldn’t get a hold of who I needed to talk to and then got busy and forgot to try calling again. I’m feeling somewhat comfortable now with Lowell but would still like to verify it. Thanks again.

    • Froggie, Thanks for taking the time :) You’re right about a work in progress and I think they way the weather is it will always be just that. There are a lot of cities over 100,000 with snow right now but unfortunately it’s more of a time thing than anything else keeping me from adding them all. By the time I do the first update, blog about it, answer emails, research what someone may ask and so on it’s pretty much time to start all over on the new update, lol. Don’t get me wrong either, I really enjoy all of it :)

      I try to keep the lower cities spread out a little bit even though there are cities that have more snow than the ones listed below the Top 25. An example would be Amarillo, TX at last check and that may have gone up now was at 17 inches. I added them in just so visitors could see how much snow they received. Each season I’ll add and drop several cities from the list. I am always checking around on the Top 25 cities in hopes of keeping that as accurate as possible. Not easy as I am sure you know Froggie. That’s why I always ask for any suggestions and get some replies like yours which I appreciate a lot.

      Both DC and Baltimore were in the contest this season but dropped for the reason that neither of those cities were getting any snow most of the season because of the way the snow has been falling. I have about 25 give or take a few cities that have been in the snow contest one time or another. Toward the end of the season I start removing some to save me some time on the updates. Of course before you know it I am adding other cities. I haven’t looked at Richmond or Norfolk I don’t think this season and I’ll take a peak.

      Manchester is the one I lose sleep over the most because they are a Top 25 city but from what I have been told is that the stats are questionable right now. The main reason being that a different NWS just took them over not too long ago and at the time I talked to them they were missing some info. I guess the good news is that I am pretty sure that in previous seasons I have tried to find snow stats for Manchester before with no luck. At least now Manchester will have a station reporting snow stats. Hey, do you have any links to the NWS (Official) snow stats for Springfield, MA ? Another city I would like to add. Thanks Froggie and nice info on your site ;)

      • First time I’m visiting this site for the second time this snow season.I think your doing a great service for people. Thanks Jeff.

        • Thanks Jeff, I appreciate that :) I have as much fun as I think most of the people that visit here do….

  14. Please help me settle a bet. Can you compare snowfall in Erie Pa last year with this year? Hubby thinks we have more snow this year. I’m skeptical.

    • Sue, I sure can if it keeps things nice between you and your Hubby ;) I pity your husband who about to get some I told you so’s, joking :)

      As of Yesterday’s Snow Stats 2/23

      Erie This Season – 97.8
      Erie Last Season – 114.0

  15. Looks like Vic might be right. Lexington and Louisville KY both had about 10 inches this past week. I don’t know what they had earlier this year but it should get them on the list somewhere.

    • Tim and All, I’ll check into Lexington and Louisville, KY If they can make it into the Top 25 I will add them as long as there are stats vailable and the pops are over 100,000. If not, there are many cities below the Top 25 that could be on that list but not enough time in a 24 hour period to add all of them and keep it updated. An example would be Amarillo, TX that has more snow than the bottom of the list. I did have them showing for awhile but pulled them. I’ll check them out though and if they are up there I’ll add them :)

      • Yeah seriously doubt the top 25. Looks like about 38 to 40ish. Both pops are over 100k. NWS shows Lexington at 22.9 ytd. Thanks for all you do. Can’t imagine the time involved

        • I did check both out and I’ll hold off for now on adding both of them. They were in the contest in previous seasons because I had them saved to keep an eye on them. I have about 25 cities that have been removed over the season including this season that I do check about every 3 – 4 weeks when I remember to. I did check them all today and there is maybe 1, 2 tops that could be put back in the contest even though they aren’t in the Top 25. Lexington has what you mentioned, 22.9 inches on the season which would put them in 40th place out of 44 cities and Louisville only has 15.7 which would put them second from last. When I have some time everyone I will post the cities I looked up today :)

  16. Patrick, Will you please add Manchester N.H. in. My cousin lives in Lowell and he and I are in Contact all the time. I live in Derry which isn’t large enough, but I’m halfway between Lowell and Manchester. And I know our small town has seen over 103 inches that Worcester got. During every storm we topped the Lowell amounts but we aren’t big enough. Manchester though, is! And they would be in the running for at least a top place in your list! Manchester has 110,000! Please add us in. I think we can beat Worcester! Regardless I think Manchester N.H. deserves a place of honor here. WE ARE BURIED! Luckily its all been super dry powder so shoveling could be worse! But that light fluffy stuff really packs on the inches…..!

  17. Cincinnati shouldn’t even be on a list for snowiest cities in the US! Places further south get more snow!!

  18. If I can believe the NWS data that I could find, Albuquerque has had 4.5 inches so far this season. More could be coming in the next couple days.

      • Patrick -
        Where do you get Ann Arbor from, then? I do not see Ann Arbor via the climate locations on the link you sent, like I do many other Michigan cities.

        Thanks! Tim

        • Hey Tim, sorry for the delay. The National Weather Service changed things around a few months back and added a couple more steps for some of the cities. Takes longer but good info still.

          If you go to http://www.weather.gov/climate/index.php?wfo=dtx
          Click on the Now Data Tab on top to the right you will see Ann Arbor in a box on the left.

          1) Click on the Now Data Tab on top to the right
          2) Click on Ann Arbor Under Location
          3) Check the Box Under Accumulation graphs(will bring up another box (Precipitation)
          4) Click on the calendar to pick the date you want(For Season I use Oct to Date)
          5) Use the Drop down menu where it says precipitation and select snowfall
          6) Hit Go and it should bring up a graph that you can hoover over for stats.

          Jeesh, no wonder it takes so long to do the updates. Hope this helps ;)

  19. Worcester MA’s official total from the last storm is 34.5 inches, which makes it officially the largest snowstorm to hit Worcester in it’s 110 years of record keeping. I should know, I live here, and my back it feeling it from all the shoveling…

    • It’s about time Tom, I have been wondering and waiting for Worcester to get their snow season going :) If this storm plays out and it’s looking pretty good so far Worcester could jump into the Top 10 and then some ;) We still have our snow bubble up in Syracuse :(

    • It’s not looking like anything major this weekend Otis but maybe it will start up a pattern for the rest of the season :)

  20. You need to change the dates as listed below.
    Below are most of the US cities and how much snow they have so far for the 2013 – 2014 season.

    Regards Ron L. Erie, PA

    • Thanks for the heads up Ron. I tried so hard to catch them all but knew I would miss some… All fixed, I think..

    • Hi Giovanni, I just checked out Las Vegas’s snow stats and they are only showing a trace of snow surprisingly. Glad you mentioned them though because I was curious as to what they were showing….

    • Hi Lee, I have been using Central Park as the general location for the NY, NY area. I did just look though and I don’t see an official NOAA weather station for Yonkers on the National Weather Service website so there would be no way to get the snow stats if I wanted to..

  21. Love the site, but you need to stop using the weather channels storm names. They’re stupid childish and serve no purpose other than to bolster the weather channel and their global warming propaganda nonsense.

    • Hey Joe, I won’t get into the global warming part of it but will explain the other. The only reason I do use the storm names in posts is because that is what a lot of people search for in Google and the other search engines. Now way am I trying to bolster the weather channel. If people are using that search term and this site comes up near the top it makes more people aware of the National Golden Snow Globe snow site. That really is the only reason I do it. Thanks Joe,

      Patrick

  22. Pingback: Rochester Slips to The Bottom of Snow Pit | GoldenSnowball.com

        • Hi Deb, most of the snow is hitting the towns to the south and east of Buffalo and hasn’t been hitting the Buffalo airport where they measure the snow. I think this is one time that the people that it’s missing, even snow lovers are probably happy that it is missing them. Pretty crazy where it is snowing…

    • Feet or inches, good God. You must live in the tropics or something. 100 feet of snow would bury a ten story building

  23. 11/17/14 and Buffalo NY is in 35th place. Apparently feeling left out, they are due for 1-2 feet overnight tonight.

    • Hi Val, I think it’s going to be a close snow race by the end of Wednesday. Most likely between Erie and Buffalo :)

      • And the funny thing about Lake Effect… we had a half inch in our driveway (last night’s snow), none today (blue sky and sunshine all morning), but just a handful of miles to the south of us they are digging out of more than 3 feet of snow and counting (literally a handful of miles, 4 or 5 maybe).

        • That without a doubt is what makes lake effect snow so cool Val. I should probably know Val but the old age memory is kicking in, are you from Buffalo or Erie? I remember a few times where a narrow band only about half a mile wide set up over Syracuse and was dropping 3-5 inches an hour. I can’t wait until the afternoon snow stats come out to see which city got how much..

  24. I like seeing the snow geeks battle each other for top honors.

    I’m just glad Detroit metro broke the 130 year old seasonal record.
    Some people FINALLY learned how to drive in it this year!

    • I remember the blizzard of 66…i lived in the southern tier…omggg…that was crazy…when we got up….we tried to look outside..u couldnt…snow was over the top of the windows! school was closed the whole wk!

    • Alan, Maybe it is NOAA playing the Aprils Fools joke ;) . Ok it’s not and Erie is still kicking butt….

  25. Does this website get the snowfall totals from the city’s airport? If they do, what about the cities the don’t have an airport.

    • Harun, I know a lot of the stats do come from the airports in the cities. I’m guessing but I would think that any of the other cities stats would be coming from a NOAA station or some place that has qualified people from NOAA to report the stats. I know some of the University’s keep track of snow stats for some of the cities. Other than that I would just be guessing..

    • Steph, sounds like the last storm we got here in Syracuse. I think it was the heaviest snow I have ever shoveled and I’m not that young. All 12 – 13 inches of it. Nothing fun about that..

  26. I remember living the winter of 1999 on Sugar Island in Michigan. We had a 2 day storm total of 68″. We were caught in alternating bands of lake effect from Superior and Lake George. The closest city, Sault Ste Marie didn’t get as much but still got enough to stop the I-500 snowmobile race (first time).

  27. Im exaggerating, Edgar. Im pretty much saying that we never cancel anything but flights when there is snow. Sorry if you took that seriously. :(

  28. Harun .. The 1981-2010 annual snowfall normal for the Twin Cities is 54.0 inches, which is 7.4 inches more than the 120-year long-term average of 46.6 inches. The 30-year period, 1981-2010 is used in many climate summaries as a historical benchmark. You’re suggesting that in one snowfall .. which I cannot find anywhere on record .. we got 54″ (4.5 feet) of snow .. or the average snowfall for an entire year. In fact, if you look at the amounts for this year .. one of the snowiest US winters on record .. the Twin Cities is only slightly above its annual seasonal average.

  29. But then you would have to include other places in New York and Michigan which destroy any place in Minnesota for seasonal snow totals.

  30. In Minnesota, we’re so used to heavy snow that three years ago, everything stayed open even though we had a storm that dumped on 4.5 feet of snow. That winter, we had at least one heavy snowfall per week.

    If Minnesota’s northern population was higher, they’d probably win every year instead of New York.

    • There has NEVER been a 4.5 foot (54″) snowstorm in the entire history of Minnesota, “Harun” .. so I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about. The largest single storm dropped 28.4 inches over 4 days, October 31-November 3, 1991 … immediately following the conclusion of the World Series and the Twins second World Championship season.

    • As I type this, Duluth (86k pop, 2012) is 17″ behind Erie, PA and 11″ behind Syracuse, NY, good for fourth place. MN has a few weather stations posting slightly higher numbers, but nothing that will enter the top two.

      If you want to get into hypotheticals, there are six weather stations with more than _double_ MN’s best claim, and while most of them are mountain or lake locations (like MN’s best), Constableville, NY rocks the NOAA at 259″ so far. By raw stations, barring uninhabited locations, we know who’s king.

      • Good info Rob, I might try to gather up some of the smaller cities snow stats before the season is over and post them.

    • sorry buddy. The Tri-City Area of Buffalo, Syracuse and Rochester all within 3hrs of eachother is pretty much the nucleus of snowfall in the northeast getting lake effect snow from both Lakes Erie and Ontario. What Minnesota has one everyone I hear is the low temperautres. I hear worse than Buffalo. That says a lot.

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