Baldwinsville is located on gently rolling hills, nearby Lake Ontario and the Finger Lakes. It lies in a transitional zone between the nearly flat plain immediately adjacent to Lake Ontario, and the hills to the south that form the approaches to the Allegheny Mountains of southern New York and northern Pennsylvania. This rolling glacial terrain is intersected and divided by forests, meadows, farmland, and bodies of water of all types, which is marked by significant seasonal variations. Local soils are a rich and varied blend, with deposits of gravels, sands, and rock flour, ground up and tilled by the glaciers, and left behind as they receded to the north. As is typical of the Great Lakes plains, these varied soils and gentle slopes create ideal conditions for specialty agriculture, orchards, and vegetable farming. The lake effect moderates the harsh Arctic winters found on the north side of Lake Ontario, but this comes at a price. Snowfall in the region is the highest for any metropolitan area in the United States. High average rainfall and snowfall result in abundant water resources.