Fair won't feature hurricane remnants

Once the tropical depression moves out, clear skies will move in, meteorologists say.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Say goodbye to Katrina and hello to the Canfield Fair.
Two meteorologists tracking what's left of Hurricane Katrina said the storm could dump 2 to 4 inches of rain in the Mahoning Valley. They said, however, that the worst here would be over by this morning, clearing the way for a dry Canfield Fair.
Meteorologist Scott Wendt tracked Katrina on Tuesday from his post at Weather Central Inc., a private weather-forecasting company in Madison, Wis.
Wendt said rain may continue in the Mahoning Valley and parts of the Shenango Valley today as the storm leaves the area, but behind the remnants of Katrina are clear skies.
Kirk Lombardy, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Cleveland, said the remnants of Katrina would be over Erie, Pa., by 8 this morning and moving into New York and Canada by tonight.
Parking and shuttle available
Chuck Booth, director of parking for the Canfield Fair, said people should not let the threat of rain keep them from the fair. He said the parking areas on the fairgrounds are in good condition, and people can park at the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center or at Canfield High School and ride a shuttle to the fairgrounds from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
"The grounds are in great shape and traffic flow should be good this year, so come to the fair," Booth said.
Don Garver of the Mahoning County Soil and Water Conservation District said some area residents told him they were worried that the rain from Katrina would result in extensive flooding. He said, however, that weather conditions this summer have left the soil much different from the past two years when there was widespread, severe flooding.
"There could be some flooding, but nothing like last year," Garver said. "There was so much flooding last year because the ground was so saturated. This year, the ground was dry and hard, just like concrete, but the steady rain is just what we needed. It broke up the hard ground and now the soil can handle a lot of water."
Meanwhile, officials of the American Red Cross Trumbull County Chapter said three local disaster volunteers and a chapter staff member are part of the national relief efforts in Katrina's wake. The volunteers and staff member have the chapter's emergency response vehicle at a Red Cross staging area in Montgomery, Ala.