Warmer temperatures and a flood risk looking forward to Friday
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Any Alert Days Ahead? There's a potential for one on Friday.
Aware: A Flood watch is in effect for Westmoreland, Somerset, & Fayette counties through Saturday morning.
The warm-up continues Thursday and highs should be warmer than Wednesday's high where we hit the mid 40s. I have us in the upper 40s Thursday for highs with sunny morning conditions giving way to cloudy skies for the afternoon. Temperatures won't hit the 40s until after the clouds arrive. Winds will be out of the south today at around 10mph for the afternoon helping to fuel the warm-up.
A mix of rain and warmth has us concerned about flooding on Friday into Saturday. The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for Friday, specifically mentioning an inch to inch and a half of rain leading to potential flooding. I don't have the area seeing that much rain on Friday, with my totals closer to a half inch to maybe a full inch. The highest rain totals should remain in West Virginia and Maryland. Either way, ice damming will remain a possibility. Ice damming occurs when you get a quick warm-up of temperatures with ice on rivers and creeks. The ice breaks up into large blocks that flow downstream. This often means flooding occurs in places that normally don't see flooding. As always don't drive over water-covered roads. To be safe, think of the saying turn around don't drown.
I wouldn't be surprised to see some snow on Saturday. It would have been a lot more, but Lake Erie is currently more than 75 percent ice-covered. Lake effect snow only occurs when there is no divider between lake water and much colder surface temperatures. You normally need a difference of around 20°C between lake water temperatures and the surface air temperature as well.
Sunday will see us warming up again, with highs near 50 degrees and sunny conditions. Monday will also see well above normal temperatures.
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