The Valley’s temperature was above normal in 2007, but not among its 10 warmest.

The Valley’s temperature was above normal in 2007, but not among its 10 warmest.

By DAVID SKOLNICK

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — Global cooling?

Last year was the first time since 2003 that the Mahoning Valley’s average annual temperature was cooler than the previous year.

However, the 49.7-degree average temperature in 2007 was 1.2 degrees above the overall average temperature for a year in the Valley.

But it was a full 1 degree below the 2006 average. The 50.7-degree average temperature in 2006 was the seventh-warmest year in the Valley, according to records compiled since 1943 by the National Weather Service.

The 49.7-degree average last year was 0.5 of a degree from cracking the area’s top 10 warmest years. No. 10 belongs to 1973 and 1987 when the average temperature was 50.2 degrees.

The Valley’s warmest year was 1998 when the average temperature was 52.1 degrees. The coldest year was 1980 when it was 46.2 degrees.

The highest temperature in 2007 was 93 degrees on Aug. 1 and 2. The lowest temperature last year was minus 5 degrees on Feb. 5 and 6.

The highest temperature ever recorded in the Valley was 100 degrees on July 7, 1988; July 14, 1954; and July 16, 1988.

October’s 58.4-degree average made it the second-warmest October in the Valley’s recorded weather history. On the other side, February’s 18-degree average made it the fourth-coldest February for the area.

The area came close to cracking the top 10 warmest months four times last year, missing by 0.2 degree in August and September, by 0.3 of a degree in May, and by 0.4 of a degree in March.

July’s 68.9-degree average was 0.5 of a degree shy of making it the area’s 10th-coldest July.

It was wetter than usual last year, but the 39.76 inches of precipitation that fell in 2007 was not enough to approach the top 10 list.

Three of the seven wettest years on record in the Valley have occurred since 2003.

They are:

U48.34 inches in 2006, the second-wettest year.

U 46.01 inches in 2003, the sixth-wettest year.

U 45.02 inches in 2004, the seventh-wettest year.

The average annual amount of precipitation for the Valley is 38.02 inches. Precipitation includes rain, sleet and snow.

This year, 2008, got off to a snowy start with 5.6 inches of snow recorded Tuesday by the weather service at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport.

The heavy snow forced a number of school closings Tuesday, which was to be the first day back from Christmas vacation for some districts, particularly those in Trumbull County.

Last year had the second-greatest amount of snowfall for a February, 23.9 inches, and a December, 23.3 inches. The snowfall in January 2007, 31.5 inches, was the third most for a January.

skolnick@vindy.com