Heat set record, but it’s leaving

Monday was a record high in the Valley for an Oct. 8.

By DAVID SKOLNICK

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — Like women’s jackets with large shoulder pads, the “Miami Vice” look and mullets, the 80s are out of style in the Mahoning Valley.

Temperatures in the mid- to upper 80s — that is.

And the unseasonably high temperatures we’ve enjoyed for the past five days have no intention of making a comeback anytime soon.

The Mahoning Valley broke the record high temperature Monday for an Oct. 8, with 87 degrees, according to Brian Mitchell, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Cleveland. The old record was 84 degrees, set in 1949.

The area also tied the record high Sunday for an Oct. 7 with 85 degrees. It was also 85 degrees Oct. 7, 1946.

Hopefully you enjoyed it because it’s supposed to be gone.

“It will be a pretty noticeable change,” Mitchell said.

The thermometer is supposed to hit the mid- to upper 70s today, which is still warm in comparison to other years. The average high temperature for an Oct. 9 in the Valley is 64 degrees.

It’s back to reality on Wednesday, when the high will be between 60 and 65 degrees. The average high for Oct. 10 in the Valley is 63 degrees.

The high expected for Thursday and Friday is around 60 degrees, a few degrees cooler than normal.

Last Thursday’s high was 84 degrees with the Valley hitting 85 degrees Friday through Sunday.

“The 80s are over,” Mitchell said. “It’s not out of the question to get one day like that [through the rest of October]. But we’re not going to get a stretch of five days of it.”

Strong high pressure off the Atlantic Coast allowed warm and moist air to move north from the Gulf Coast, creating the high temperatures. The cooler weather will be caused by a fairly strong cold front from the Central Plains and Mississippi Valley combined with cold air flow from Canada, Mitchell said.

Whatever the reason, welcome to fall.

skolnick@vindy.com