Final Report

The 2010-11 winter season probably won't be well remembered in our immediate area, but some places saw well above normal snowfall including New York City.  Here are the winners, or losers depending on your feelings.  Only cities with at least 100,000 people are included since they keep accurate totals and are more affected by amounts.  Obviously other places receive far greater snowfall.  Off to the list.


1.  In an absolute runaway, the New York Yankees of the snowfall community, Syracuse, New York, easily took the number one ranking amongst major cities with a hefty 179 inches of snow this season.  Even for the hearty central NY residents, this amount was a bit abnormal.  This season will go down in the top five snowiest in the last 60 years and was almost 70 inches above average.  They set a December record of 72.8 inches of snow, with at least measurable snow falling on all but five days.  For comparison, out of the other 62 major cities that received at least 10 inches of snow, 50 of them didn't get that much all season. 

2.  Not shockingly, the number two spot headed west on I-90 to land on the south shore of Lake Ontario in Rochester, New York.  Here is where we see the difference between number one and the rest of the pack.  Rochester came in at 127 inches, a full 62 inches behind Syracuse.  Needless to say, I think they will let the Cuse take first every year as this total, while above normal, is not uncommon.

3.  We are having so much fun in New York, let's get back on I-90 and move a little further west.  Before we move into Canada for beer and hockey, we can swing by Buffalo, who finished in a respectable 3rd place with 111.8 inches of snow.  Buffalo is somewhat similar to Syracuse in that while they are not in the jackpot zone for Lake Effect snow, they are still in a prime position to pick up heavy amounts.

4.  The trip will be rounded out by continuing on the same highway we began on, this time heading south right along the shores of Lake Erie until we hit the town that shares its name.  Out of New York we move into Erie, Pennsylvania who picked up 107.4 inches.  Quite frankly, anything over 100 is impressive and considering the highest amounts Erie has recorded have been in the 140's, this total is quite a lot.

Let's be honest.  The fact that these four cities finished at the top is not surprising at all.  And if I keep following the website that posts these numbers, I'd expect to see the same four next season in a similar if not exactly the same order.  Not only are these four located in prime lake effect snow belts, they also deal with clippers and nor'easters.  When these storms spin up the coast and nail us, they generally get something too.  And when they track inland, these places really get nailed. 

5.  Perhaps a little surprising especially to people outside the world of weather or geography is our 5th place finisher.  None other that South Bend, Indiana rounds out our top five and last to get over 100 inches with a very impressive 105.6 inches.  I documented in my blog over winter that the city received over 30 inches in one weekend of persistent lake effect snow.  It takes a unique setup for the town to get pummeled, but when the winds are right, a very thin line of heavy snow trains over the same area for hours.  They set a daily record this year with over 23 inches of snow in one day.


Now we can take some time to look at some other places around the country that did well.

Both Minneapolis and St. Paul finished in the top 10 receiving 30 more inches than normal.  Right around 30 seemed to be the magic number as South Bend also finished exactly 30 inches above average.  Amongst other place in the northern mid-west, Green Bay had a very strong 2010-11 campaign with almost 40 inches above normal.  This number was helped out by a late season snowfall of 17.8 inches, an amount they hadn't seen since the 1800's.  It's easy to forget that while most of the snow that falls on the east coast comes in large amounts, that is not the case in most other areas.

Speaking of the northeast, I will let my bias show and say that this area took the cake again for snowfall.  Actually, that's not so much of a bias as a basic fact.  Both Worcester and Hartford finished in the top 10 in snowfall while Boston came in at 11.  Tallied together, they places average 148.4 inches and ended the season with 260 inches. 

Then there was New York City.  62 inches fell.  Far above the normal 22.  The record for January was shattered.  Multiple 20+ inch storms.  I think most of their totals came in three storms.  The city was basically shut down.  That is the typical northeast storm.  The snow comes all at once. 

As far as Allentown goes, well we had a very strong beginning to the season but we started to fall behind when the storms stayed right along the coast.  It was still an above average year, but just barely as the city finished with an unofficial 38.9 inches finishing 37th on the list. 

If you were looking for losers of the season, head west.  Not all the way to California, they did well in the mountains but clearly they are not eligible for our contest.  Instead, look at Colorado.  It was just not their year.  Most places finished between 20 to 30 inches below normal.  Denver ended at 22 inches, well below their normal 55.

As I write this today, there are Winter Storm Warnings out for Yosemite Park and virtually the entire Sierra Nevada's.  But it's for areas over 7,000 feet.  I don't think many people have to worry.