Posted at: 11/12/2009 11:21 AM | WHEC.com
Updated at: 11/12/2009 11:22 AM

How much snow this winter?

Snow If you think the weather is unusual for this time of November, you're right. It's usually colder and cloudier.

The National Weather Service says the average date of first measurable snowfall in Rochester, going back to 1926, is Nov. 8.

Last year, people in Bristol in Ontario County had to shovel driveways and clean off cars after the first snowfall of the season hit on October 22. And the first significant lake effect snowfall arrived in the Rochester area on November 17.

So even though the first snowfall is still not in the forecast, how much snow can we expect this winter?

Officially, Rochester averages about 100 inches. But according to the National Weather Service, looking back over the last ten years, it can be significantly higher than that.

Only twice in the last decade has the official snowfall been lower than the 30-year average. Here are the official numbers:

2000-01...133.0"
2001-02....58.1"
2002-03...135.2"
2003-04...125.6"
2004-05...113.6"
2005-06...73.9"
2006-07...107.2
2007-08...106.0"
2008-09...103.7"

Area highway departments are stocking up on road salt for the upcoming winter. The City of Rochester operations director last winter said the city generally makes about 25 plow runs and 100 salt runs during a typical winter.

The National Weather Service says, to date, the Rochester area has officially recorded only a trace. Rochester officially averages about 100 inches of snowfall every winter season.

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