Shot this tonight looking across my driveway (that I cleared earlier). Officially (NOAA report at our airport) we received 13 inches (33cm) of snow since this started on Dec 1st with most of it, 8.3 inches (21cm), yesterday.
Being on the southern shore of Lake Ontario and just under 5 miles from the lake means I live in the path of "lake effect" snow. When fairly strong cold air blows across the warmer lake, it produces snow. Cold air doesn't hold much moisture so when it passes over the warmer lake (Lake Ontario usually does not freeze over because it is very deep ~800 ft) it gets warmed and that air rises but as it rises it also cools again and any moisture that was in the air condenses and forms ice crystals and clouds that eventually turn to snow and hence we get dumped on.