UPDATE | More rain adds misery to the Valley

YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning Valley was hit this morning with yet another thunderstorm that left numerous people wondering if they’ll ever be able to mow their lawns again.

The morning storm officially dropped exactly a half-inch of rain on the Valley, according to the National Weather Service. The NWS takes its official weather measurements at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in Vienna so it was worse in some areas and better in others.

With that half-inch, the Valley has 6.23 inches of rain this month as of 11 a.m. today, said Zach Sefcovic, a meteorologist with the weather service in Cleveland. That’s enough to be the fifth wettest June on record for the region, according to NWS statistics that go back to 1897.

Rain isn’t in Wednesday’s forecast, but it is for Thursday with a quarter-inch to a half-inch expected, Sefcovic said.

Also, there’s a chance for rain Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and it could get heavy at times, he said.

This morning's rain left Westgate Pizza Co. in nearly its own island at West Glen Plaza near the intersection of Western Reserve Road and Glenwood Avenue.

"It's been going on for some time," said Jim Marx, the owner of Westgate.

Marx said it's the third or fourth time this year that the area has been flooded because of heavy rainfall.

"It always gets flooded here," said Debbie Burnside of Canfield, when getting fuel at the Shell gas station near the intersection.

Meanwhile, power outages affected hundreds of FirstEnergy customers in the Mahoning Valley.

Nearly 4,500 customers have been affected by the outages in Mahoning County and about 189 customers in Trumbull County. There were a few customers affected in Columbiana County. Power is expected to be restored by 2 p.m., according to FirstEnergy’s website.

“That’s our goal,” said Mark Durbin, a spokesman for FirstEnergy.

Additionally, about 108 customers are affected in Mercer County but power is expected to be restored by 1:30 p.m. for most areas.

For the complete story, read Wednesday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com