Here we snow again: Storm targets Valley

By David Skolnick

skolnick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

There goes the sun — and here comes the snow, freezing rain, sleet and icy roads.

It was cold but sunny Monday afternoon, but that’s going to be a distant memory.

Four to 6 inches of snow are expected by Wednesday as well as one-half of an inch of ice by tonight, according to the National Weather Service.

One-half of an inch of ice “can do a whole lot,” said Bill Comeaux, a NWS meteorologist in Cleveland. “It can cause major power outages and trees to come down. You don’t want to have that.”

It also means slick road conditions later today and Wednesday morning, Comeaux said.

Northern Trumbull County could see 6 to 10 inches of snow by Wednesday, said Mark Koontz, chief meteorologist for 21 WFMJ-TV, The Vindicator’s broadcast partner. “People should watch themselves,” he said.

There is a winter storm warning in effect until 7 p.m. Wednesday.

There is no snow in the weather service’s forecast for Thursday through Sunday.

Though it didn’t snow until December, the Mahoning Valley has already experienced the fifth-snowiest winter on record as of Monday afternoon.

As of Monday afternoon, 83.5 inches of snow has fallen on the Valley.

Holding the No. 4 spot, for now, is 1950-1951 with 85.3 inches.

The top three snowiest winters are 2007-’08 at 102.8 inches, 2006-’07 at 90.2 inches and 2008-’09 at 86.5 inches.

The NWS has snow data dating to 1934. The official measurements for the area are taken at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in Vienna.

As of Monday afternoon, 30.4 inches of snow had fallen in the Valley in January, good enough for the fifth-snowiest January.

The 53.1 inches of snow in December made it the snowiest December on record in the area.