Located in the centre of New
York on the southern shore of Lake Ontario, the Syracuse Metropolitan
Statistical Area (MSA) is a 3,400-square-mile land area composed of four
counties Cayuga, Madison, Onondaga and Oswego.
The Syracuse area enjoys a four-season
continental climate with marked seasonal changes. Due to geographical location,
cyclonic systems that move from the interior of the country through the St.
Lawrence Valley affect the Syracuse weather, as do the cold air masses that
advance through the Great Lakes region from the Hudson Bay area, making winters
cold with snow.
During the summer and parts of spring and
autumn, temperatures customarily rise rapidly during daytime to fall rapidly
after sunset, so the nights are relatively cool and comfortable. Excessively
warm spells are rare. Temperatures average 24 degrees in January; 46 degrees in
April; 71 in July and 62 in September.
