When can you expect your first snowfall of the season?

Are you dreaming of snow? Ready for making snowmen and sledding down hills? Or, conversely, are you dreading the shoveling, scraping and traffic headaches?

Based on historical averages, cities such as Pittsburgh, Boston, Detroit, Chicago and Spokane should get snow at some point this month. But New York City, Washington, St. Louis, and Portland, Ore., typically have to wait until December.

The main factors that determine the average day of a city's first snow are the same factors that govern its other major climate characteristics — latitude and altitude, said Deke Arndt, a climate scientist with the National Centers for Environmental Information.

"In general, the farther north you are, and the farther up you are, the earlier the threat of first snow," Arndt said. "The highest elevation stations along the spines of the Rockies have a year-round threat of snow."

Some cities average date for their first snow has already passed, such as Denver (Oct. 16), Minneapolis (Nov. 2) and Burlington, Vt. (Nov. 4).

In Flagstaff, Ariz., a record 9.9 inches of the white stuff was reported Wednesday, which is a bit on the early side for its first snow. (That city typically sees its first snow on Nov. 11.)

On the other end of the spectrum, cities in the Deep South, Gulf Coast, Desert Southwest and Hawaii see snow so infrequently that there's not enough data to pinpoint a specific date when the first snow occurs, Arndt said.

Remember this is not a forecast, just the average date that these cities see their first measurable snowfall of at least 0.1 inch. The data comes from the National Weather Service and was compiled by the Weather Channel.

Here’s a look at the full list:

Fairbanks        Sept. 27
Great Falls      Oct. 2
Anchorage       Oct. 15
Denver            Oct. 16
Rapid City        Oct. 16
Bismarck         Oct. 26
Minneapolis      Nov. 2
Burlington         Nov. 4
Salt Lake City    Nov. 5
Buffalo             Nov. 5
Cleveland         Nov. 10
Des Moines      Nov. 10
Flagstaff           Nov. 11
Spokane           Nov. 13
Pittsburgh        Nov. 14
Detroit            Nov. 15
Reno              Nov. 15
Chicago           Nov. 16
Albuquerque    Nov. 20
Indianapolis     Nov. 23
Kansas City     Nov. 27
Cincinnati        Nov. 28
Boston            Nov. 29
St. Louis         Dec. 3
Louisville         Dec. 8
El Paso           Dec. 10
Baltimore        Dec. 14
New York City  Dec. 14
Philadelphia     Dec. 17
Washington     Dec. 18
Portland, Ore.   Dec. 23
Seattle            Dec. 26