Lake Erie can even contribute some snow from this process if a west or southwest wind is strong enough. Since Lake Ontario does not freeze in most winters, this Lake Effect machine can remain active throughout the winter. Total season snowfall ranges from 70 inches south of the city to about 90 inches in Rochester to over 120 inches along the lake shore east of the city. About 5O inches of this total results from general snows, the rest is due to the lake effect machine. The Lake does modify the extreme cold, the mercury falls below zero on only about six nights in an average winter, with anything below -l0 quite uncommon.
Spring comes slowly to the region.
The spring months are actually our driest months statistically, due in part to the stabilizing effect of the Lakes, although soils are wet. May. Summers are warm and sunny across the region. The average temperature is in the 70 to 72 degree range. Rain can be expected every third or fourth day, almost always in the form of showers and thunderstorms. This activity is more common inland than near the lake.