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Cold, snow put chill on Valentine’s festivities
By ROBERT CONNELLY
High winds, cold and snowfall took their toll on Valentine’s Day revelry at several Mahoning Valley restaurants Saturday night.
“Whenever we have an early day snow, it scares people into staying indoors,” said Thomas C. Smith, general manager of Springfield Grille, 7413 Tiffany South in Boardman. “I don’t think the coldness affects people too much because we’re all accustomed to this in Northeast Ohio.”
Brian Moore, general manager of Smokey Bones Bar and Fire Grill, 6651 South Ave. in Boardman, agreed.
“We were definitely down versus last year, for sure,” he said “It got better through the course of the day.”
“We did notice a kind of slow-up in the guests who didn’t have reservations,” said Smith. “We aren’t seeing the ones walking in without [reservations] like we did in the past.”
About 3 inches of snow fell on the Valley Saturday, often accompanied by high winds that created white-out conditions. Today’s chief weather enemy will be frigid conditions, with wind chills expected to reach as low as minus-30. A wind chill advisory is in effect until 7 p.m. today.
Elsewhere, a manager with Olive Garden in Niles said they saw little impact, and Chad Anthony’s Italian Grille and Pub, on Belmont Avenue in Liberty, saw steady numbers on the romantic holiday for couples. “We were expecting a much larger turn-out, but it hasn’t been that bad,” said Linda Bott, manager of the Liberty eatery. “Some of the larger reservations turned into smaller reservations, but overall, all the reservations showed up ... It’s just been a steady day.”
In nearby Austintown, it was normal business for Quaker Steak and Lube on Interstate Boulevard.
“We have actually been pretty steady all night long since about 4 p.m. I thought it would affect us a little bit more,” said Lindy Good, Quaker Steak manager.
Some of the restaurants noted that they expect holiday traffic that started Friday to continue through tonight as some have specials on all those days.
Others acknowledged that some customers prefer to go on a different day than the holiday itself. Moore, of Smokey Bones, noted that with schools closed on Monday for the President’s Day holiday, families could be more inclined to go out on a Sunday night as a family.
ACCIDENTS
On local roads, authorities reported mostly minor accidents, if any. Niles police recorded some fender-benders near Eastwood Mall, while the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Canfield Post reported several accidents with non-life threatening injuries. An official at the post said those crashes were mostly in Boardman and the Goshen/Smith township area.
Blowing snow led to whiteout conditions across Ohio on Saturday afternoon, causing numerous accidents and pileups that shut down interstates.
Two people were killed in separate accidents on the Ohio Turnpike while a wave of heavy snow limited visibility at the Columbus airport and forced all flights to be grounded for a few hours.
At least one person died in a multivehicle pileup that closed the westbound lanes of the Ohio Turnpike just east of Sandusky. Another crash on the turnpike about 30 miles east of the Indiana state line left one person dead.
The toll road was turning away all westbound traffic coming from the Cleveland and Akron areas all the way to the Indiana line — a 180-mile stretch of the turnpike.
In Erie, Pa., 100 vehicles were locked up after 20 to 25 vehicles rear-ended each other or slid off the road after a tractor-trailer lost control and slid off the road, blocking both lanes of Interstate 90. The crash happened at 1:45 p.m. Saturday and westbound traffic was stopped from 2:45 p.m. to 7:50 p.m. Saturday, officials and a news release said.
About five people were taken to hospitals, but no one was seriously injured.
Due to anticipated severe cold weather today, the Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley was filling up its beds.
“We had last night all together 100-some people,” said Tom Marshall, client advisor at the shelter. “We haven’t had anybody leave ... I doubt we will have anyone leave.”
As of 10:30 p.m. Saturday, the mission had 166 residents taking advantage of its shelter.
Local animal welfare officials are reminding residents to bring their pets inside, provide extra food and more water than usual during this cold spell.
According to The Vindicator’s broadcast partner, 21 WFMJ-TV, the dog warden and Animal Charity humane agents are responding to all calls about animals in need.
Andrew DiPaolo, WFMJ meteorologist, said temperatures as low as today’s haven’t been seen since a bitterly cold stretch in January 2014. He said today’s high is expected to be minus 1. “Throughout the day, it could feel like minus-30 maximum throughout the Valley,” with wind chill factored in, DiPaolo added.
“As of right now, it’s looking like colder than average the rest of February,” the meteorologist said. “As far as this time of year, we should be in the 30s, like mid- to upper-30s so it’s definitely below average.”