Snowiest Cities in United States

Rochester, New York gets more snow than any other large city in the United States, with a yearly average of nearly 100 inches (255 cm). Close to eight feet of snow also buries nearby Buffalo in a typical year.

Most cities in the United States receive some fresh snow in December, January and February.

For 16 of the 51 largest US cities, the annual snowfall normally adds up to two feet (60 centimetres) or more.

The heaviest snowfall in one month for any large US city usually lands at the northern New York state cities of Buffalo and Rochester. Rochester averages 28.2 inches (71.6 cm) of new snow in January. Buffalo's heaviest snow month is December, when it gets an average of 27.4 inches (69.6 cm).

The snowfall totals are averages based on weather data collected from 1981 to 2010 for the NOAA National Climatic Data Center. The major cities included in the weather rankings represent the 51 metropolitan areas in the United States with the biggest populations, all those with over one million people in 2010, according to the US Census Bureau. A complete list of America's 51 largest urban centers is available here.

Average annual snowfall for the snowiest large US cities:

City	Yearly Snowfall
	Inches	Cen­ti­me­tres
Rochester, New York	99.5	252.7
Buffalo, New York	94.7	240.5
Cleveland, Ohio	68.1	173.0
Salt Lake City, Utah	56.2	142.7
Minneapolis, Minnesota	54.0	137.2
Denver, Colorado	53.8	136.7
Milwaukee, Wisconsin	46.9	119.1
Boston, Massachusetts	43.8	111.3
Detroit, Michigan	42.7	108.5
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	41.9	106.4
Hartford, Connecticut	40.5	102.9
Chicago, Illinois	36.7	93.2
Providence, Rhode Island	33.8	85.9
Columbus, Ohio	27.5	69.9
Indianapolis, Indiana	25.9	65.8
New York, New York	25.1	63.8

Most Days With Fresh Snow

Denver Colorado decidedly tops the list as the major US city with the longest winters. It usually has the earliest and latest substantive snowfalls of the year, for a snow season that can last nine months. It's the only large city to frequently get snow in September, averaging 1.3 inches (3.3 cm) for the month, and often receives another 1.1 inches (2.8 cm) of snow in May. Still, many other cities have far more days a year with snowstorms.

Large US cities where it snows 30 or more days a year

City	Days
Rochester, New York	66
Buffalo, New York	61
Cleveland, Ohio	47
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	40
Minneapolis, Minnesota	37
Detroit, Michigan	36
Milwaukee, Wisconsin	35
Salt Lake City, Utah	35
Denver, Colorado	33
Columbus, Ohio	30