Warmer weather continues along with snow and rain
Any Alert Days Ahead? Not right now.
Aware: So far this month temperatures are running 0.3 degrees above normal. The next three days will see below-average temperatures.
I have seen more and more posts questioning what is happening with our weather here in Pennsylvania. It seems that some folks out there think it is normal for us to be seeing highs in the 70s each and every day right now. Any type of cool weather or light snow is looked at as some sort of anomaly.
Well truthfully, so far this month we are very close to average. The average daily high temperature for Pittsburgh is just 60 degrees. Last week the average daily high temperature was in the 50s. The daily low average for Pittsburgh is just 39 degrees. For the month, we are running slightly above average by just 0.3 degrees. The next three days will see high temperatures around 10 degrees below average each day so we will tick just below the average for a couple of days when it comes to our monthly average temperature before we go back above average and probably stay there for the rest of the month.
Here's the thing, I don't blame you for thinking that temperatures are somehow out of whack. It isn't you, it's the weather's fault. Why is that? Temperatures for years have been running so warm that you are excused from not knowing what normal is any more. You may be surprised to know that over the past 12 months (not including this month) we have seen a grand total of one month where temperatures for the month were below average. That was in January when we were 4.7 degrees below average. February was just slightly above average (0.3). Every other month was at least two degrees above average. This past year is not an outlier. The number of colder-than-average months has dwindled to around ten percent over the past five years or so. These numbers are even worse when you consider that we only base our averages on thirty-year periods. Our averages for what to expect now are based on a period from 1990-2020. So we are already in a period of warming. Remember the science example of how if you slowly warm a pot of water with a frog in it where the frog will never realize what is happening? We are the frog in this real-world example.
Let's get back to Thursday's forecast with morning temperatures in the low 40s and highs today around 50 degrees. It will be similar to Wednesday. Rain will be widespread through noon with more isolated shower chances for your afternoon. Isolated rain will also be possible from 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. but we could potentially hear a rumble or two with the redevelopment. I have noon temperatures in the mid-40s.
Rain chances will be lower but still there over both Friday and Saturday, with the peak chance for rain happening late Friday into Saturday morning. Highs on Friday and Saturday will be near 50 degrees, similar to Thursday. Highs will be near 60 degrees on Sunday. Monday highs are expected to hit the 70s.
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