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Cold, wind, snow await
YOUNGSTOWN
Add brisk winds and unseasonably low temperatures to the snowstorm expected to hit the Mahoning Valley on Sunday.
And meteorologists warn the storm system could last until Wednesday.
A rain and snow mix early Sunday should become all snow after 1 p.m. that day, said Mike Abair, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Cleveland.
The snow, expected to be heavy at times, will fall through the middle of next week, said Abair and Tina Pietrondi, a meteorologist with 21 WFMJ-TV.
There could be as much as 14 inches in Trumbull and Mercer counties by Tuesday afternoon, about 6 to 8 inches in Mahoning County and about 4 inches in Columbiana County, Pietrondi said.
In addition to the snow, temperatures will be well below normal for this time of the year, Abair said.
NWS statistics show 38 degrees is the average high temperature for the Mahoning Valley.
The service’s forecast calls for a high on Monday of near 20 degrees. The expected high on Tuesday is near 18 degrees and near 23 degrees on Wednesday.
Also, Monday and Tuesday will be windy, Pietrondi said, with gusts up to 40 mph.
Because of the wind, she recommends people who have outdoor inflatable Christmas decorations to bring them inside.
“They could blow away, and we’ll have flying Christmas decorations all over the place,” Pietrondi said.
The wind-chill factor should make it feel below zero on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, she said.
Also, she said, there will be blowing and drifting snow and poor visibility on Valley roads.
With plenty more of the month to go, this is already the snowiest December in the Valley on record.
As of 5 p.m. Friday, the Valley had 29.9 inches of snow, according to the NWS, which measures snow for the area at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in Vienna in Trumbull County.
The old record for December was 29.5 inches in 1987.
NWS records for snowfall date back to 1934.