REGION Recent precipitation puts us on the weather map at No. 2

The rest of the winter won't be as snowy, a meteorologist said.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- If you think this has been the worst winter for snow ever, you aren't too far off the mark.
The combined December and January snowfall of 49.5 inches is the second most snowfall the area has received in recorded weather history, according to the National Weather Service. Only the combined snowfall of 54.6 inches that fell in December 1977 and January 1978 was more, NWS records show.
We've got a long way to go before we can challenge for the snowiest winter, which takes in November to March of a winter season. The record is 85.3 inches of snow that fell during the winter of 1950-51.
The area received only 2.5 inches of snow in November 2003, bringing overall snow accumulation for this season to 52 inches.
To break into the top 10, we need another 18.6 inches of snow to fall this winter, which is about the average snowfall for this area in February and March. That would be 70.6 inches for the winter, which would match the winter of 1964-65, the 10th snowiest on record.
The NWS has complied weather records for the Mahoning Valley for the past 60 years. The weather is measured at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in Vienna.
Meteorologist's comments
The worst of the snowfall is probably over, said Mark Adams, a NWS meteorologist in Cleveland.
"There's a chance we could get into the top 10 of all-time," he said. "The long-range forecast is for normal precipitation for the rest of the winter. We expect it to level out for February and March. But that's just our best guess."
In December, we received 19.2 inches of snow, the ninth-snowiest December for the area on record.
Last month, the area got 30.3 inches of snow, good enough for the third-snowiest January on record. Also, January 2004 was the fifth-snowiest month of any month in Valley weather history.
In December, the worst day for snowfall was the 5th when 4.2 inches fell. The worst snow day in January was the 14th when 4.9 inches fell.
It wasn't too cold in December, with the average temperature at 31.7 degrees, 1.3 degrees above normal.
But it was pretty darn cold in January. The average temperature was 19.2 degrees, 5.7 degrees below normal.
We had 28 days in January at or below the freezing mark. The coldest day was minus 8 degree on the 25th. The warmest, Jan. 3, when the temperature hit 60 degrees.