Pittsburgh Weather: Fire weather watch issued for Wednesday
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — The National Weather Service has issued a fire weather watch for Wednesday.
The watch covers Mercer, Venango, Forest, Lawrence, Butler, Clarion, Jefferson, Beaver, Allegheny, Armstrong, Indiana, Washington, Greene and Westmoreland counties from morning through evening.
The NWS says this watch is issued when there's an "elevated fire danger that we're monitoring for Wednesday."
"What do you need to do? Be aware that brush fires and wildfires can start and spread more easily during this time," the NWS tweeted.
KDKA-TV's Ray Petelin says extremely low humidity and light breezes can lead to quickly spreading fires.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection also has declared a Code Orange Air Quality Action Day for Tuesday, April 11, 2023, in the Liberty-Clairton area of Allegheny County.
The affected areas include Clairton City, Glassport Borough, Liberty Borough, Lincoln Borough, and Port Vue Borough.
A strong temperature inversion in the morning and light winds will likely contribute to daily average concentrations of fine particulate matter in the Code Orange range on Tuesday, the department said in a press release.
Young children, the elderly, and those with respiratory problems are advised to limit outdoor activities.
Full forecast below.
A large area of high pressure continues to dominate, bringing plenty of sunshine today and highs above normal, touching 70.
FIRST ALERT: None.
AWARE: A lot of sunshine and 70s!
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We will be well above normal by 10 degrees today, then 20 degrees above normal by Thursday and Friday! Here are some records we will keep an eye on this week once we get to the 80s!
- April 12 - 84º (2001)
- April 13 - 84º (1941)
- April 14 - 86 (1883)
It's rare for this long dry stretch; so far, we are starting the month well above normal by about four degrees, and for precipitation, we are below normal by about one inch.
Tree pollen will be very high throughout the week, with grass and ragweed remaining low.
The next chance for rain showers moves in on Saturday with a weak area of low pressure.
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