This winter, think about October

The temperature on
average was 7.6 degrees higher than usual.

By DAVID SKOLNICK

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — With the second-warmest October in recorded Mahoning Valley weather history just behind us, get ready for snow as early as the middle of next week.

But before we get to potential snow, let’s reflect on October.

The average temperature last month was 58.4 degrees, the second-warmest only to 1947 — when the average temperature that October was 59.6 degrees. Last month beat the former second-warmest October by 0.5 of a degree, 57.9 degrees in 1971.

The average October temperature for the area is 50.8, so last month was 7.6 degrees warmer than a typical October, according to the National Weather Service.

Last month had the warmest Oct. 8 on record at 87 degrees, with 85 degrees on Oct. 7 and 80 degrees on Oct. 21 — tying the record for those days in terms of high temperatures since 1943, when the NWS first started keeping track of Valley weather. Eighty-seven is the highest October temperature recorded in the Valley, also happening Oct. 10, 1949, and Oct. 5, 1951.

As for why it was so warm this year, Kirk Lombardi, a NWS meteorologist in Cleveland, said most of northern Ohio, including the Valley, didn’t get hit by cold arctic blasts from the north that can make Octobers around here pretty cold at times.

That cold Arctic air is coming our direction and could bring snow — or what Lombardi calls “that four-letter word.”

“Enjoy your weekend,” Lombardi said. “A strong cold front is coming our way with the first blast of wintry air coming Monday. We’ll be lucky to get out of the 40s on Tuesday and we’ll hover around 40 degrees on Wednesday.”

Predicted lows for Tuesday and Wednesday are 30 and 31 respectively, and we could see snow then.

“It’s November; we lucked out,” Lombardi said. “We saw our first snowflakes in October last year.”

To be exact, the Valley saw its first trace of snow last year on Oct. 12.

The lowest temperature recorded last month in the Valley was during the early hours of Monday, when it dropped to 27 degrees. The lowest recorded temperature for an Oct. 29 was 22 degrees in 1999. The lowest recorded temperature for an October day occurred on Halloween in 1988, when it dropped to 20 degrees.

skolnick@vindy.com