Published: Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Snowfall sets record for Mahoning Valley
The thermometer reached 79 degrees April 3, breaking the 1981 record.
YOUNGSTOWN — Those who believe a groundhog can accurately predict weather received a white, cold and windy blast of reality.
The 2006-07 winter season is the snowiest in the weather history of the Mahoning Valley, according to the National Weather Service, which has recorded data for this area since 1943.
As of early Monday, 88.9 inches of snow fell on the Valley, according to the weather service. The average snowfall for a winter season in the Valley is 56.4 inches.
The old snowfall record for the Valley was 85.3 inches in 1950-51. The Mahoning Valley officially broke the record Saturday when 2.6 inches of snow fell.
For those who don't remember or don't want to remember, Punxsutawney Phil had predicted an early spring Feb. 2, Groundhog Day. That same month, 23.9 inches of snow fell on the Valley, the second most for the area for February.
Though we're only one-third of the way through April, 12.7 inches of snow has already fallen on the area. That amount is already good enough for the second-snowiest April in Valley weather history. No. 1 is 14.8 inches in 2005. The winter season ends April 30.
More facts
The average snowfall for the Valley in April is 2.2 inches. More than double that amount — 5.4 inches, to be exact — fell Thursday.
As for a white Easter, the Valley received 1 inch of snow Sunday. The low temperature Sunday was 23 degrees, 11 degrees colder than the average low for April 8. But it was not even close to the record low for that day. That distinction goes to 1982, when it was 14 degrees.
The only temperature record broken this month was for the warmest April 3, when it was 79 degrees. That is 1 degree warmer than the record set in 1981.
The Valley may finally be done with snow this year.
"The temperature will rise for the next couple of weeks, decreasing the chance of snow," said Walter Fitzgerald, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Cleveland.
The Valley's temperature should be in the range of the mid-40s to the lower 50s with some rain showers, he said.
"The present forecast is not calling for more snow," Fitzgerald said.
The NWS had no idea that this would be the snowiest winter in weather history for the Valley, Fitzgerald said. Neither did Phil.
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