"much" vs. "a lot of"

[Joel S. Berson]

A friend (born 1940s and remained in Boston area) remarked that she
would say "we have a lot of snow in New England" but not "we have
much snow in New England".  So would I (NYC).  We wondered about
that, about other verbs and objects, and negatives vs. positives.  Such as:

"I have a lot of coffee."
"I don't drink much coffee"

Has there been any analysis?  Is "much' vs. "a lot of" regional?

Joel (who does not possess the usual reference books, and is
momentarily possessed by snow).

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org