Recently, Anchorage, Alaska's largest city with nearly 400,000 residents, has just recorded its snowiest January on record. Tucked in between the mighty Cook Inlet and pushed right up against the Chugach Mountains, Anchorage sits in prime location for some serious snow totals. Moisture from pacific storms builds up over the inlet, and thanks to orographic lift caused by the mountains, forces that moisture to drop over Anchorage. Thanks to Alaska's northernly location, that moisture often falls in the form of snow.
As winter settles in and resorts continue to compete over advertised snow totals, a lesser-known region of New York is quietly blanketed in one of the steadiest yearly snowpacks of any largely inhabited location in the U.S. Although the Tug Hill region of New York may not be able to boast world-class skiing, locals manage to make use of the endless lake-effect snow that pummels the area through an array of winter activities.