People clean the snow on a street in New York City, the United States, on Feb. 9, 2017. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

NEW YORK, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- Snow is fun, but cleaning the streets is costly. It costs nearly 2 million U.S. dollars to clean up an inch of snow in New York City, according to a recent data released by New York City Comptroller's Office.

New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer twitted on his official account on Friday that based on total snow removal costs from the fiscal year 2003-16, the average cost per inch is 1,994,555 dollars.

A mound of ploughed snowis seen on Times Square as an intense snow storm hits New York, the United States, on Feb. 9, 2017. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

The New York City is digging out from Thursday's snow storm which lasted for 12 hours. Peak snow accumulations measured between 10 and 14 inches.

It is estimated to cost the city 19.9-27.9 million dollars to clean up the snow, according to Stringer.

The costs for annual ice and snow removal in New York City have been going down since the fiscal year 2014, when the costs peaked at 130.6 million dollars.

A man cleans snow on a street in New York City, the United States, on Feb. 9, 2017. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)