Buffalo, and most places downwind of the great lakes, get some lake effect snow most every year. It gets dramatic when the cold winds hit while the water is still warm. Buffalo has been the butt of excessive snow jokes for a long time, though Syracuse and Clay are even worse (http://www.city-data.com/top2/c464.html). The Army moved its cold weather training operation out of Alaska to Watertown/ Fort Drum years ago-because Western NY just sucks that bad. Most residents of the niagara frontier are painfully aware of the snowy possibilities, but the municipalities are also quite proficient at snow removal, cuz they get to practice. a lot.
In most respects, I prefer blizzards to hurricanes. It is the experience of freezing rain that sent me scuttling south.