The Tug Hill Plateau rises to the east of Lake Ontario, between Syracuse and Watertown. Home to the largest unbroken tract of northern hardwood forest in New York State, the Plateau is a layer cake of sedimentary rock which rose with the Adirondack Mountains, to its east; the Black River Valley separates the two regions. Since it tilts upward atop the Adirondack Precambrian dome, elevations at the west end of the Plateau average 350 feet while those at the east end exceed 2000 feet. Cold air blowing across Lake Ontario becomes saturated with moisture and, forced to rise up the Plateau, drops prodigious amounts of snow.
In this season of persistent lake-effect snowstorms, accumulations on the Tug Hill Plateau top the list, as usual. In fact, the higher elevations of the Plateau average over 200 inches of snow per year, the deepest annual snowpack in the eastern U.S. and an important source of fresh water for New York State. The Tug Hill Plateau also holds the eastern record for the greatest depth of snowfall in one day: 77 inches. Yesterday's snowfall of 4 feet was nothing to sneeze at either!
