Cold start to the week for the Pittsburgh area ahead of milder, wet and stormier pattern
Temperatures were about 3-4 degrees warmer than forecasted Saturday across most of the Pittsburgh area, thanks to ample sunshine and a slower-than-anticipated arrival of the colder air with this evening's cold front.
First Alert: None.
Now we are starting to cool off with colder air filtering in as a cold front continues to move south into the Laurel Highlands. A trough moving across the Midwest states this evening will pass through our area overnight leading to clouds and a band of light to moderate snow as temperatures cool off sufficiently to support that.
The best chance of snow will come between 2-7 a.m. Sunday, with the highest coverage north of Pittsburgh. Most areas will see 1 inch or less and whatever does fall will likely melt on most surfaces due to the relatively warm ground temperatures over the last couple of days.
After some low clouds on Sunday morning, drier air moving in from the northwest will allow for clearing skies. Sunday's high temperatures are most likely to occur after midnight, with temperatures remaining in the low to mid 30s for the rest of the day, then dropping to the low-mid 20s Sunday night before midnight.
Some mid-high level clouds will likely traverse our southern counties as a weak disturbance passes to our south; however, the chance of snow with this system continues to remain very low outside of a flurry or two, potentially south of I-70.
With Monday trending clearer with an easterly wind, it is likely that temperatures during the afternoon and evening will recover into the upper 30s to low 40s.
Monday night into Tuesday, another system will move in from the west as a warm front slowly lifts north during the day. This will lead to widespread precipitation, mostly in the form of rain.
Some freezing rain is likely between midnight and 7 a.m. Tuesday, generally north of I-80 and in the Laurel Highlands and Ridges.
Overall, I am not concerned about significant icing due to the configuration of the surface high pressure and the relatively quick return of warm air with this system.
Still, be on the lookout for a few icy spots early Tuesday morning, especially north and east of Pittsburgh. From Wednesday-onward next week, our area is expected to remain between an oscillating frontal boundary that will act as a stationary and warm front at times. Several upper-level disturbances and a feed of moisture from the Gulf will contribute to multiple chances of rain, but it will not be raining continuously.
Despite that, the total amounts of rain through next Saturday will likely add up to 1-2 inches for most of our area.
With the return of warm air and deeper low-level moisture, this also increases the potential for thunderstorms, especially by next Friday and Saturday.