Snowiest Cities in United States

Most major cities in the United States receive some fresh snow in December, January and February. For a dozen cities, the annual snowfall normally adds up to 20 or more inches (50 cm). Denver Colorado gets the most snow with an average of five feet (153 cm) a year.

Denver Colorado decidedly tops the list as the US city typically having the earliest and latest substantive snowfalls of the season. It's the only major city to get snow in September, averaging 1.6 inches for the month.

Denver normally receives another 1.6 inches of snow each May. Only Chicago, Cleveland and Milwaukee can also expect snow in May, but only a dusting amounting to 0.1 inches.

Altogether, Denver's snow season is the longest of any major US city. It's the only urban center to usually receive some fresh snow during nine months of the year.

Major cities included in these weather rankings are all the cities in the United States with over 440,000 people on July 1, 2006, according to the US Census Bureau's estimates.

Average annual snowfall for the snowiest major US cities:

City	Inches
Denver, Colorado	60.3
Cleveland, Ohio	59.0
Milwaukee, Wisconsin	47.1
Boston, Massachusetts	43.3
Detroit, Michigan	41.9
Chicago, Illinois	38.2
New York, New York	28.8
Columbus, Ohio	28.4
Indianapolis, Indiana	24.1
Baltimore, Maryland	21.4
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	21.1
Kansas City, Missouri	20.0

The heaviest snowfall in one month for any large US city usually lands in Cleveland Ohio in January, totalling an average of 14.2 inches. Milwaukee, Wisconsin comes in a close second for the most snow per month with 13.9 inches of snow also arriving in January.

Least Snowy Cities

No major US city gets more than a trace, too little to measure, of snow or hail in the summer months of June, July and August. Seven American cities normally never see any snow during the entire year. These are: