Buffalo's winter weather is subject to occasionally strong, harsh, cold winds coming directly off Lake Erie, sometimes bearing massive amounts of snow. The end

Buffalo's winter weather is subject to occasionally strong, harsh, cold winds coming directly off Lake Erie, sometimes bearing massive amounts of snow. The end result is that the conurbated area of Buffalo can be hit hard and take days of digging to clear, while only just a bit north, west, or south the snowfall might be much less. This is not a regular phenomena; when it happens it becomes part of the urban folklore. In the aftermath, residents reminisce about it for years and/or buy tee shirts with the slogan "I survived the great snowstorm of (insert year here)."