Greater Cincinnati will welcome the New Year with freezing temperatures and snow flurries, as forecasters predict the mercury will stay about 10 degrees below normal.

        A high of 26 degrees is expected today with a low of 10. Wednesday will be slightly colder with a high of 22, according to AccuWeather.

        At True Value Hardware in Mount Airy on Monday, customers were already bracing for colder weather with purchases of ice-melting salt, space heaters and furnace filters.

        “Business has been good the past couple of days,” said Ryan Hennessey, a sales clerk. “I'd say we've probably sold about 500 pounds of rock salt just this morning.”

        While the expected drop in temperature is generating business, Mr. Hennessey said December's warm spell was proving profitable as well.

        “The warmer weather enabled people to get a lot of last-minute jobs done around the house and outside, like repairing cracked sidewalks and basements,” Mr. Hennessey said. “So we were able to make a lot of money that way, too.”

        Temperatures had reached record highs in the 70s during the early part of December, bringing out convertible owners and workers in shirt sleeves.

        But much like 2001, the Tristate's unseasonably warm winter temperatures have officially come to an end, forecasters say.

        “I think the warmer temperatures we've been enjoying are pretty much behind us,” said Scott Hickman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Wilmington, Ohio.

        “As you head into January and February, this is typically the coldest time of year for us.”

        While some Cincinnatians spent New Year's Eve toasting with champagne, others spent the night toasting their hands and feet in front of the fireplace as the temperature crept to a low of 14 degrees Monday night.

        Mr. Hickman said temperatures could get slightly warmer as we enter the weekend, but temperatures will still remain below normal.

        The record high for Jan. 1 is 69 degrees, set in 1876. The average normal temperature is 38; the low, 21.

        Cincinnati.com weather page

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