[3outofny]

I have lived most of my life in western NY, except 10 years in VA. I moved back to NY, this will be my third winter, to help family but I'm more than ready to head out. I have always loved New England. I used to travel through various parts of the region every year. After living here in 'the snowbelt' south of Buffalo where we measure snow in feet, not inches, I am ready to move on. My dilemna is this. For years I wanted to move to NE but got talked into trying VA. It was nice enough but not "home". I can't get NE out of my mind, I've been drawn to it for so long. I want to live within a short drive of the water but I can't deal with the amount of snow we get here and the lack of sun. So for the past several years I've been watching the weather reports for areas like Attleboro, MA and Providence, RI just to get some idea of what the weather is like in the southeastern part of the region. My question is this, how much snow does that area really get during the course of the winter? As many people know, Buffalo is infamous for the 'snowfall amounts' and where I live east of Lake Erie we get even more. Our winters are dark and dreary with very little sun. Based on observation over the past several years of weather.com the southeastern region of New England appears to get some snow but temps are a little bit warmer than ours and you seem to get many more sunny days. What can anyone that lives in the MA/RI/CT area generally tell me about the winters and snowfall? When we get snow, it stays all winter. Is that true for you too? After living in the mid Atlantic for ten years I got real spoiled with the weather. I can't decide if I should head back down that way or to my dream of heading east. Weather is not the only factor but after snow from October to May I'm not sure how much more I can deal with it. I need something more concrete to go by. Any information you can give me would be helpful. Thank you.

[Hollytree]

Our snow tends to last a few days and then melt. This year we seem to be getting more frequent snowfalls but our current accumulation is about 4 inches- we had a blizzard of 10 inches last week but it all just about melted and then we got some more. If you stay close to the coast in RI and Ct and on the Cape, you'll get wind and cold but usually less snow.

We still have winter and it can get long and occasionally dreary but nothing like Buffalo! If we're lucky we'll get intermittent sunshine and frequent thaws.

[7 Wishes]

If you want averages to compare by, I know Buffalo area is about (and in some places over) 100" per winter.

southeast CT is generally about 25-30" of total snow (somewhat similar to NY City for comparison), most of Rhode Island and Cape Cod area in the 30-40" average and further up the MA coast generally about 40-50" (including Boston).

They have been getting more snow than usual this winter so far.

[Lowerdeck]

If you live near the coast, especially to the east, sometimes storms will be rain ... while inland it would be colder and snow. However, closer to the coast - the wind tends to be stronger also. Most storms this time of year track off the coast, rather than up the coast on land.

[7 Wishes]

To put some numbers to the inland places, Danbury averages around 40" of snow per winter and Hartford close to 50".

[3outofny]

I just wanted to thank all of you for your responses, they are very helpful.

[7 Wishes]

This week should be interesting because both today and at the end of the week, parts of the region will get rain, and parts snow, so you'll kind of see the numbers firsthand.