13-02-2025
Snowiest cities update: Where does Rochester rank now?
Another round of snow snarled up traffic in Rochester the evening of Feb. 12, continuing a trend of cold and snowy conditions not seen in the past two winters.
A total of 2.2 inches fell at the Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport that day, bringing the month-to-date total to 12.1 inches for the city. That's about 20% above average for that point in the month. One measure of winter harshness taken into account by the National Weather Service in Buffalo is how long snow persists on the ground; the snow depth on Feb. 12 was 5 inches.
For the season, Rochester has received 67.4 inches of snow. That's just off the normal pace of 67.9 inches and well above the total for the entire season in 2023-24 (52.5 inches) and 2022-23 (50.4 inches).
The total puts Rochester near the top of the nation for cities with a population of 100,000 or greater, though everyone continues to trail Erie, Pennsylvania with 96.5 inches. Following are a trio of upstate New York cities, including Rochester.
Erie, PA: 96.5 inches
Syracuse, NY: 75.6 inches
Rochester, NY: 67.4 inches
Buffalo, NY: 58.8 inches
Grand Rapids, MI: 56.9 inches
In the Golden Snowball competition between five upstate New York cities, the leader board is much the same with Binghamton slotting between Rochester and Buffalo, with Albany bringing up the rear.
Syracuse 75.6 inches
Rochester 67.4 inches
Binghamton 65.2 inches
Buffalo 58.8 inches
Albany 36.9 inches
The Golden Snowball started as a competition between National Weather Service offices in each of the participating cities following the Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977. When the Weather Service office in Rochester closed in the '90s, the contest ended, but was restarted in the early 2000s through the efforts of Patrick DeCoursey.
The Rochester area, including Monroe, Genesee, Wyoming, Livingston, Ontario and Orleans counties, will see accumulating snow of a few inches beginning Saturday, according to a hazardous weather outlook from the Weather Service. An area of strong low pressure will move through the same region Saturday night into Sunday, possibly bringing heavier snow and a period of mixed precipitation.
The expected snowfall through Sunday, Feb. 16 in Rochester is 5 inches, with heavier amounts closer to the shore of Lake Ontario. There's a 10% chance the snowfall total could be as much as 7 inches or as little as just 2 inches, based on the Weather Service's probabilistic snowfall forecast.
— Steve Howe reports on weather, climate and the Great Lakes for the Democrat and Chronicle. An RIT graduate, he has covered myriad topics over the years, including public safety, local government, national politics and economic development in New York and Utah.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Snowiest cities update: Where does Rochester rank now?
