Winter plans a last hurrah
A trace of snow is predicted for Monday and Tuesday.
YOUNGSTOWN — You can keep your snow shovel in the back of the garage. But you’ll probably want to fish out your winter coat from the back of the closet.
Though only a trace is expected, snow is in the forecast for Monday and Tuesday. Temperatures on those two days are also expected to drop.
The possibility exists that it will rain instead of snow, said Frank Kieltyka, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Cleveland.
It all depends on the temperature.
The weather service’s forecast calls for temperatures Monday and Tuesday nights to be in the low 30s. That would mean snow.
It’s a sharp contrast from what has been one of the warmest Aprils on record in the Mahoning Valley.
Through Thursday, the average temperature in the Valley was 51.9 degrees, 5.6 degrees above the normal temperature.
It would also be the sixth-warmest April in the Valley if the temperature doesn’t drop.
But that’s not going to happen.
High temperatures for today and Sunday are supposed to hit the upper 60s, but are then expected to only reach the upper 40s during the day Monday and then into the 30s that night.
The average amount of snow to fall in the Valley in April is 2.2 inches. We’ve only had a trace so far this month.
“It’s been a pleasant April,” Kieltyka said.
And it will be until Monday.
The last measurable snowfall in the Valley was 4.3 inches on March 22.
Though no accumulation of snow is expected for April, this is the snowiest winter in the Mahoning Valley’s recorded weather history, which dates back to 1943.
During the 2007-08 winter, 102.4 inches of snow fell.
skolnick@vindy.com