WEATHER Valley's winter season is one for the books

The 2003-04 winter was the eighth-snowiest on record in the Valley.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- One of the snowiest winter seasons in Mahoning Valley weather history has finally ended.
The Valley recorded 73.6 inches of snow from Oct. 1, 2003, to April 30, considered the weather season by the National Weather Service. That snowfall total is good enough for the eighth-snowiest winter season in weather history, which goes back about 60 years.
The 73.6 inches of snow this winter season was 0.1 of an inch away from tying for seventh place with the 1970-71 winter. The most snow to fall in the Valley totaled 85.3 inches, during the winter of 1950-51.
The National Weather Service takes the Valley's official weather measurements at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in Vienna.
Three inches of snow fell in the Valley in April; 2.4 inches in one day, April 1. The NWS said there was a trace of snow Tuesday, but it was less than 0.1 of an inch. The last measurable snowfall in the Valley was 0.1 of an inch April 14.
The 49.5 inches of snow that fell in December and January was the second-most snowfall the area received for those two months in weather history.
What's above average
Precipitation is also up during the first four months of the year.
The Valley has recorded 11.51 inches of precipitation through April 30. The average for the first four months of the year in the area is 10.64 inches.
In the first four months of 2003, the Valley had 8.11 inches of precipitation, 3.4 inches less than so far this year.
Last year was the fifth-wettest year on record in the Mahoning Valley, with 46.01 inches of precipitation, more than one-third of it in May, 6.84 inches, and July, 10.39 inches.
But NWS meteorologists predict average rainfall through July and don't expect the weather problems the Valley experienced last year.
The NWS uses a rain gauge to measure precipitation. Rainfall is a straight measurement; an inch of rain equals an inch of precipitation. Because snow is considerably less moist than rain, about 10 inches of snow is typically equal to 1 inch of precipitation.