Prepare for weekend cold for yourself, being pets indoors, local officials advise

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The Mahoning Valley will be hit with heavy snow with 40 mph wind gusts today followed by below-zero temperatures tonight and Sunday.

“It’s going to be very nasty,” said Jess Briganti, weather anchor for “WFMJ

Today” on 21 WFMJ-TV, The Vindicator’s broadcast partner. “We’re expected to have record lows [today] and Sunday.”

The snow is to start at about 8 a.m. today and get heavy between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., she said. “We’ll have squalls with white-outs and 40 mph wind gusts.”

The Valley should get about 4 to 5 inches of snow by this evening, she said.

The high temperature for today will be about 20 degrees early in the morning and drop to 5 below zero at night.

Wind chill values will be about 10 to 15 below zero by 6 p.m. today, and drop to 25 below zero overnight and into Sunday, Briganti said.

The expected high temperature for Sunday is only 2, dropping to 10 below zero at night and into Monday morning, she said.

While the high temperature for Monday is expected to reach 12, wind chill values will be as low as 15 below zero that day, Briganti said.

The one-two punch of blowing snow followed by very low temperatures could pose a challenge for traveler, freezing pipes and animals.

“Bring your animals in. ... If you see somebody that doesn’t have their animals in, call Dianne Fry [county dog warden] at the dog pound,” Mahoning Commissioner David Ditzler advised.

The dog pound phone number is 330-740-2205. In the case of an emergency, call 911.

For more on the weather, where shelters and food are being provided and other preparations, read Saturday's Vindicator or Vindy.com.