A snow city with record winters
Located just south of Lake Ontario, Syracuse ranks among America’s snowiest big cities, averaging about 128 inches of snow each year.
Most of it comes from lake-effect bands that form when cold air crosses the lake’s open water, producing narrow, intense squalls that can drop several inches per hour.
The city’s record winter came in 1992–93 with 192.1 inches, and the March 1993 “Storm of the Century” brought more than 40 inches in two days…