I originally lived in eastern LI, NY and have lived in the finger lake region of NY for a short while. A far as I can remember, 5-10" snowfall was a big deal there also.

I do remember one time that our high school in NC let us out early because it started to snow (it stopped and rained for the rest of the day). I also remember geting snowed in at school in NY when the busses could not run and we had to walk home or get picked up by parents.