Snow is in the forecast for this weekend, but Coniglio said, “It doesn’t look like a lot.”
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It’s only going to be “a dusting between now and through the weekend,” and it won’t be cold enough for any real accumulations, he said.
“Enjoy it, because it won’t be this nice next winter, probably,” he said.
The reason this winter has been so mild is that “we’re just locked into a pattern where we keep getting into these southernly flows where we get a lot of moisture,” said Coniglio. “It’s been above normal temperatures through the winter, too.”
By the time the cooler air reaches southern Ohio, it’s too late, he said. The moisture is gone.
High temperatures this weekend will reach the upper 30s, and the lows will hover around 30 degrees or just below, according to the forecast.
The mild winter has saved the public from much snow-shoveling and salting of sidewalks, but it’s also saved taxpayer dollars. Mild winters helps local governments “immensely,” said Fairfield Public Works Director Dave Butsch.
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Fairfield used thousands of tons of salt in the past two winter seasons, so only using a few hundred tons has saved the city money.
The city stores 4,000 tons of salt in an enclosed barn, and when it uses a few hundred tons of salt they’ll order more to top off its supply.
A typical winter season can see between 3,000 and 4,000 tons of salt used, and the city will spend upwards of $4,000 to re-fill the supply, Butsch said.
While Butsch said, “We’re not out of the woods yet,” Coniglio said January is historically the month the region sees its most snowfall.
So far this winter season, the largest snowfall in the Cincinnati region was in mid-November when 2.6 inches fell in Greater Cincinnati on Nov. 11 and 12.
Dec. 15 saw the second-most snowfall in each region with 2.5 inches falling.
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