By Mark Ferenchik, The Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS – So you thought winter was over, didn’t you? After such mild weather, including the warmest February on record here in Columbus, thoughts of snow were likely receding.
But not so fast. Forecasters issued a winter weather advisory for Franklin, Delaware, Licking and Madison counties, expecting up to two inches of snow in the Columbus area through Tuesday, with more to the north and less to the south.
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The forecast originally expected up to 3 inches around the city, but the National Weather Service in Wilmington issued an updated forecast at 3:50 p.m. Monday reducing snowfall amounts in many areas because the storm front is now expected to pivot east.
Delaware now is expected to get 2-3 inches, and Mansfield, 3 to 4 inches (down from up to 6 inches).
Regardless of the reduced snowfall forecast, Snow Trails ski resort near Mansfield will be open Tuesday through Sunday, general manager Scott Crislip said. He had planned to be closed Tuesday through Friday this week before the snowy forecast. “The season has been much like the weather: a roller coaster,” he said.
The weather service has issued a winter storm warning for Cleveland, where residents are expected to see 6 inches and 8 inches by 2 p.m. Tuesday.
So far this winter, just 8.1 inches of snow have fallen in Columbus, with most of that — 5.4 inches — coming in December, Gibson said. Just 0.6 inches fell in February, when the mean temperature was 42.2 degrees, breaking the record of 41.8 degrees set in 1882. The average snowfall for a year is 26.7 inches, Gibson said.