Odd winter continues today with mix of rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow

Expect 4 to 6 inches of snow today.

By DAVID SKOLNICK

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning Valley’s strange winter weather takes another turn today as we get away from near-zero temperatures and welcome a combination of snow, sleet, freezing rain and rain.

The low temperature Monday was 1 degree at 7:58 a.m. It wasn’t much better Sunday as the low temperature dropped to 2 degrees at 11:59 p.m. Neither are record lows, but are far below normal for this time of year.

The Valley’s high temperature today is expected to be 33 degrees, reaching that mark in the late afternoon, said Robert LaPlante, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Cleveland.

The increase in temperature will bring all sorts of precipitation with it.

It was to start snowing about 3 a.m. today and continue to about noon, LaPlante said. Then the Valley should get sleet, freezing rain and, when the temperature rises to 33 degrees, rain, he said.

Precipitation should fall most of the day, he said.

“It’s going to be nasty with freezing rain and sleet creating ice on streets,” LaPlante said.

The original forecast called for 6 to 10 inches of snow. Because of the higher temperatures, the Valley should get 4 to 6 inches of snow, LaPlante said.

It will cool down Wednesday with a high in the upper 20s and a low around 10 degrees. The temperature is expected to hit the mid-30s on Thursday with a low in the mid-20s. It should be dry both days.

A 50 percent chance of rain or snow Friday is expected, depending on the temperature. The high Friday is expected to be around 40 degrees with a low of 15 to 20 degrees.

The high last Saturday reached 44 degrees and then plummeted to 2 on Sunday and 1 on Monday.

“We’ve had several episodes of warm spells, then a cold spell for a day or two and then normal winter” weather and temperatures, LaPlante said. “We’ve had several spring-like days.”

Just last Tuesday the high temperature in the area was 58 degrees, a record for the Valley for a Feb. 5.

Until Sunday, the temperatures for February were typically above normal.

There’s been a little more snow than usual during the first 10 days of the month. The weather service reports 5.5 inches of snow during the first 10 days of this month, 1.5 inches above normal.

Last month was warmer with more snow than average for a January.

The average temperature last month was 29.2 degrees, 4.3 degrees above normal. It wasn’t enough to crack the Valley’s 10 warmest Januarys on record. The 10th warmest January occurred in 1952 when the average temperature was 30.7 degrees.

We almost made the top 10 in snow in January. The Valley recorded 20.9 inches of snow last month. No. 10 is 21.2 inches in 1985.

This past December was one for the weather record books. It was the second snowiest and second wettest December in the Valley since the weather service started compiling such information in 1943. It was only the second time a December made the top 10 in both categories. The other year was 1968.

skolnick@vindy.com