Worcester is nation’s snowiest city so far this year

E-mail | Print | Comments () 03/20/2013 5:10 PM

Paul Kapteyn/Worcester Telegram & Gazette/AP

Andrew Stratis pushes his snowblower through deep snow as he tries to clear the sidewalk in front of his house on Holden Street in Worcester after the February blizzard.

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By Lauren Dezenski, Globe Correspondent

After a long parade of storms, Worcester has become the snowiest city this winter in the United States, the National Weather Service says.

The town holds a commanding position atop the snowpile at 108.9 inches after receiving 4.2 inches Tuesday.

Syracuse, N.Y., came in second, with 96.5 inches received this year. Rounding out the top 5 were: Erie, Pa., with 92.2 inches; Rochester, N.Y., 72.7 inches; and Salt Lake City, 67.1 inches, according to Patrick DeCoursey, who maintains the snowfall tracking site goldensnowglobe.com. The statistic applies to cities with more than 100,000 people.

Higher snowfall amounts — sometimes much higher — can be recorded in places that aren’t as populous. Mount Baker in Washington state has recorded 174 inches so far this year, while on Washington’s Mount Rainier 162 inches have fallen, the National Weather Service office in Seattle said.

Though the bulk of this season’s snow arrived in Massachusetts quickly in a series of storms over the past six weeks, that doesn’t mean the season will end anytime soon.

“Bottom line, it can certainly snow into May,” said meteorologist Bill Simpson.

On May 9, 1977, Worcester received 11.4 inches of snow.

“The storm pattern is still active,” Simpson said, “So winter isn’t over yet.”

Lauren Dezenski can be reached at lauren.dezenski@globe.com.