by Sandy » Wed Nov 26, 2014 3:56 pm
That's incredible video. I'm fascinated by the geography and meteorology of lake effect snow. My stepmom lives in North Tonawanda, NY, which is a suburb of Buffalo about six miles north of the city limits, but it is north of the northern shore of Lake Erie, and got about a third less snow than Buffalo did. Interesting, too, with regard to lake effect snow, that the suburb of Amherst, which is just slightly to the south and east of North Tonawanda, got almost 18 more inches, and Cheektowaga, which is just a few miles south of Amherst, got an additional foot. It is interesting to note, on the list that Ed posted, which includes suburbs as well as the central city in metro areas, to note that both Cheektowaga and Amherst are on the list, equal with Buffalo in average annual snowfall, but ranked just ahead of it. And one of those rankings in Arizona, Coconino, is actually the county in which both Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon are located in.
I've thoroughly enjoyed the seasonal changes since moving to Pennsylvania, and am learning to live around the snowfalls. We are about an hour south of Erie, PA, ranked 13th on the list, and half an hour east of Youngstown, OH, ranked 47th on the list. Erie gets 88 inches, Youngstown 56, and that 32 inches is pretty much all due to the distance from Lake Erie, and the lake effect snow. We are about an hour south of Erie, and half an hour due east of Youngstown, between two towns not on the list, I guess because they aren't in that population range, New Castle, 10 miles west, which averages 66 inches, and Butler, 10 miles east which averages 61. After living for so many years in the south, I don't mind the snow at all. They're really good around here at getting the roads cleared and salted and we've had very few snowstorms which have shut things down for more than half a day or so. Shutting school down is basically a matter of the timing of a storm, and a couple of days last year, when the heaviest snow came overnight, they had the roads cleared before the busses got out. We actually closed more because it was minus 10 or more, which causes diesel fuel to gel, and the fuel lines to freeze in the busses, than for snowfall. And shoveling the sidewalk, to me, is like being a kid again, playing in it. There's just something about bundling up, and being outside in the cold, but yet being warm because of the energy of working. I know, its a new experience, but I'd rather do that than mow.