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Buffalo sits at the eastern end of Lake Erie in western New York State, where the lake drains into the Niagara River, at approximately 42.89°N, 78.88°W. Its position downwind of the Great Lakes gives it a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) — with warm summers and long, extraordinarily snowy winters — driven by lake-effect snow.
Summer, from June to August, is warm and pleasant, with July the warmest month — average highs around 27–28°C — moderated by Lake Erie, which keeps the season cooler than inland. It is the sunniest, most agreeable time of year, with afternoon thunderstorms and comfortable nights; the lake breeze cools the waterfront.
Winter, from December to March, is long, cold, grey and famously snowy, with January the coldest month — average highs around -1°C and lows near -8°C. Buffalo averages some 240 cm of snow a year, among the highest of any large American city; cold winds crossing the relatively warm, unfrozen lake pick up moisture and dump prodigious lake-effect snow in narrow, intense bands.
Buffalo receives around 1,000–1,050 mm of precipitation a year, spread fairly evenly through the year; its defining feature is snowfall, around 240 cm in an average winter, most of it delivered by lake-effect bands that can drop over a metre in a single storm while leaving nearby areas untouched. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.
Buffalo's snow is legendary: cold air sweeping across the comparatively warm waters of Lake Erie picks up moisture and releases it as intense, narrow bands of lake-effect snow just downwind. The lake usually freezes by mid-winter, shutting off the machine — but until it does, single storms can bury the city under more than a metre of snow.
To follow any single measurement in Buffalo more closely, use our live instruments: the online barometer for atmospheric pressure, the thermometer for temperature, the hygrometer for humidity, the anemometer for wind speed, the wind vane for wind direction, and the rain gauge for rainfall.