These 5 Upstate New York Cities Compete For Most Snow In the 2024/2025 Winter Season

There is nothing like friendly competition. Each year, whether we know it or not, 5 cities in New York State compete to see which city gets the most snow throughout the winter season. The winner gets bragging rights and Golden Snowball honors.

Before we reveal which New York city received the most snow in the 2024/2025 winter season we should let you know who the contestants are. Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany and Binghamton have been measured, inch by inch, to see who wins.

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According to the Golden Snowball site, this cold competition started in the 1970's by meteorologists out of Rochester and ran for about 15 years. The only reason it had stopped was because the Rochester National Weather Service had closed.

Based on what I can see from historic snow totals, Albany has never won the Golden Snowball but each of the other competitors has won at least once. Perhaps this is the Capital City's year?

If you had asked me to share my thoughts on the 2024/2025 winter season I would have said we had a harsh winter with above average snow and ice totals. Then an expert would have told me I was wrong.

Each of the 5 cities in contention for the Golden Snowball saw snow totals below their normal seasons average but there is still one Upstate city that received more than the rest.

With the informal return of the Golden Snowball competition we have our latest New York State Champion. Here are the results:

1. Syracuse - 115.4 inches
2. Rochester - 88.3 inches
3. Binghamton - 80.1 inches
4. Buffalo - 77.3 inches
5. Albany - 43.9