[SamAdams76]

Lake effect snow can be incredibly localized. It depends on what direction the wind is coming off the lakes. Usually Buffalo gets creamed but when the wind is more out of the north, that's when places like Erie can get it. You can have several feet of snow pile up just a few miles away from where there is next to nothing.

There are only three places in the world that get lake-effect snow. The Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, and some Japanese islands whose name I can't remember (and too lazy to Google).

[Ouderkirk]

I grew up in Boylston, NY. Lived in Syracuse for 35 years and now live in Rochester. I am very familiar with the nature of lake effect snows.

Driving north from Syracuse on I-81 you could see the clouds, by the time you got to Central Square it was snowing lightly, heavier in Parish, and whiteout conditions from Pulaski to Mannsville, and the reverse through Adams and perfectly clear sunny day north to the river and up to Messina.

These bands would set up and stay for a week at a time, putting down 12 - 18 inches per day. After a week of that, you would have to shovel the roof, make sure that you kept the doors clear for a considerable distance and prayed that the wind didn’t pick up.