Pittsburgh Weather: Winter officially moves in with snow, wind, and cold temperatures
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Happy first day of winter!
Today is going to be the last nice day before the winter storm moves in. It's the best day to get anything done outside, winterize your car, do last-minute Christmas shopping, etc. Highs will be in the low 40s with partly cloudy skies.
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This pre-Christmas winter storm has a few parts to it.
For Thursday, freezing rain and a few inches of snow will impact the more mountainous regions like ridges/laurels and Garrett County, Maryland. There are already winter storm watches in place for those threats. Any icing or snow will turn to all rain by Thursday evening and could melt some of it.
Pittsburgh will mainly see rain showers with highs in the mid-40s. Rain showers will continue throughout the night into early Friday.
Friday is a First Alert Weather Day.
That rain will switch over to all snow by sunrise. While it's raining, temperatures will be in the 40s. But that arctic air moves in fast during the morning hours, and we'll quickly drop down into the teens and single digits within a few hours.
This could lead to a flash freeze with snow falling on top. By afternoon, most of the snow will taper to occasional snow showers, but the winds will start kicking up as the temperatures continue to drop. Most locations will not see big snow accumulations.
Honestly, it is looking like 1 to 2 inches of snow, with higher totals in Lake Effect areas to the north. That said, even small snow totals can easily blow around in winds that could be gusting.
Friday is also expected to be one of the busiest travel days of the year, so driving will likely be slick and hazardous given these conditions and the number of people on the roads. Winds will also be gusting up to possibly 50 mph, so wind chill values will be in the negatives by Friday p.m.
Saturday is Christmas Eve and also a First Alert Weather Day.
Morning lows will be in the single digits, but wind chills will be anywhere from 0 to -20 due to the gusty winds up to 40 mph.
Afternoon highs will be in the mid-teens, but wind chills will still remain below zero the entire day. Light snow will linger on, and light accumulations could add to Friday's snow totals.
While the accumulations will not be giant Friday night or Saturday, everything that falls will stick because of the cold temperatures. This could create slick spots and low visibility at times. For our area, a wind chill watch is in effect for these dangerously cold conditions.
The Steelers' game on Saturday night at Acrisure stadium will be the coldest one of the season so far with single digits temperatures and negative wind chills. If you're going to do that, have numerous layers on and find ways to stay warm as much as possible!
Christmas Day will still be very cold. As you're opening up presents in the morning, stay inside because morning temperatures will be in the single digits again with wind chills between 0 to -10.
There may be some flurries lingering, but it's looking like a White Christmas!
Any snow that falls Friday should stick to the ground all throughout Christmas weekend because of the frigid temperatures. Afternoon highs will be in the upper teens with winds calming down but still a bit breezy at times.
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