The Valley could get 6 to 7 inches of snow today


By David Skolnick

skolnick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

About 6 to 7 inches of snow is expected to blanket the Mahoning Valley by the end of today.

The snow was to start between just after midnight and 2 a.m. with about 1 to 2 inches on the ground by the early morning, said Mike Joyce, meteorologist for 21 WFMJ-TV, The Vindicator’s broadcast partner.

By midmorning/early afternoon, the snowstorm will hit the Valley, said Joyce and Martin Mullen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Cleveland.

About 3 to 5 inches of snow on top of the overnight accumulation of 1 to 2 inches is expected, Mullen said. Joyce pegged the additional accumulations today of 2 to 4 inches, though it could be up to 5 inches in some snowbelt areas.

“It will be an inconvenience for some people, but I don’t think it will be catastrophic by any stretch,” Joyce said. “It won’t be a major snowstorm.”

By late tonight, the snow should taper off, he said.

“On Sunday, there will be a few isolated snowstorms but nothing serious,” Joyce said.

There is small chance of snow Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, Mullen said.

“It will be nothing heavy,” he said.

The high for today will be in the low 30s, dropping down to the mid-20s at night, according to the NWS forecast.

The biggest snowstorm for the Valley so far this winter season was 5.4 inches Nov. 26, according to NWS data for the area. Other parts of the Valley had as much as 8 inches of snow that day, according to area weather spotters.

The NWS measures weather at the Youngstown/Warren Regional Airport in Vienna.

Last month there was 12.9 inches of snow in the area, according to NWS statistics. That is tied with 1951 for the most snow in the Valley in November. The year with the most snow in November was 1950 with 30.6 inches.

As of late Friday, 7 inches of snow had fallen on the Valley in December, according to the NWS.

The record for the most snow in the area in December was 53.1 inches in 2010. The average snow accumulation in December is 15 inches.