Pittsburgh Weather: First Alert Weather day issued for Thursday as mild Tuesday gives way to big changes
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Conditions on Thursday morning look favorable for freezing rain in some spots.
- Daily average High: 41 Low: 27
- Sunrise: 7:36 Sunset: 4:54
Today: Partly cloudy skies. A chilly start with a mild afternoon is expected.
Any Alert Days Ahead?: Thursday due to freezing rain chance.
"We have already called a First Alert Weather Day for Thursday," KDKA First Alert Meteorologist Ron Smiley said. "Why are we doing that? Well, it's because not only are we expecting that all-day rain, but with temperatures hovering around 32 degrees, we are going to have the potential for freezing rain. I don't think it's going to be a widespread freezing event but it is going to be marginal, and I think it's going to be enough that we're going to see a number of school delays, maybe even some closings. We could see some power outages as well."
Aware: Winter weather will be around for the weekend but the impact looks minor for places west of the Laurels.
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The places of concern at this time are what we call Pennsylvania's snow belt of Armstrong and Indiana counties along with places north of I-80. The snow belt extends down through the Laurel Highlands and the Ridges of Fayette and Westmoreland counties. Freezing rain totals don't look very high, but freezing rain doesn't take a lot to mess up the morning commute. At this point, there could be a number of school cancellations and delays with places even outside of the places just mentioned possibly seeing issues.
A winter storm watch is in effect from 10 p.m. Wednesday until 10 p.m. Thursday for Indiana County and the ridges. This watch is in effect for the potential of slushy accumulations of rain and snow, along with the potential for freezing rain, that could lead to an icy glaze. Winter storm watches are changed to either winter storm warnings or winter weather advisories by The National Weather Service when we get closer to the "event".
Precipitation is anticipated to begin late Wednesday and early Thursday morning. Initially, for most lower elevations, like Pittsburgh, this will start off as rain. As that moisture interacts with the colder surfaces in the higher elevations, some icing may occur. This could lead to dangerous travel in those higher elevations, starting very early Thursday morning.
Some of that mixing and icing will become possible outside of the Ridges, especially north of Pittsburgh by midday Thursday. Right now there are no advisories or watches in those locations.
Most precipitation will be ending by 10 p.m. Thursday. During the timeframe of this storm, Pittsburgh may see some times of mixed precipitation, as well. With our bridges and hills, icy spots cannot be ruled out, but the best chances for icing will be east.
Up until then, the weather looks calm. Highs today will be near 40 degrees. Morning lows will dip into the upper 20s. Winds are light but at times wind chills could fall to the low 20s. Skies will be partly cloudy this afternoon with winds out of the northeast. Wednesday will look very similar to today with highs in the low 40s. Morning lows will fall to the mid-to-low 20s.
Winter weather chances remain in the forecast through the weekend. Friday looks pretty dry for most places with potential snow in the Laurels. Snow will continue on Saturday and Sunday but at this point, snow totals for locations outside of westward-facing slopes of the Ridges and Laurel Highlands will see minor accumulations of less than a half inch. If traveling, large snow totals are expected east of the Laurels where a couple of inches of snow is expected to fall.
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