Cool conditions will be sticking around the Pittsburgh area this week.

Any Alert Days Ahead?  No

Aware: Today is the cutoff for data that goes into making weekly drought maps. Just 0.14" of rain was recorded over the last week.

A major coffee brand comes out with its yearly pumpkin spice menu today, and it looks like the weather will pair nicely with it.    

Highs today will be back in the low 70s. Morning lows in a number of communities have dipped into the 40s. There is a chance for rain, with the highest chance coming this afternoon.  If you see rain today, it won't be much and obviously won't last very long.  Even with the afternoon rain chance, I am going to keep skies partly cloudy today.  

I will keep rain coverage at around 30 percent, even though yesterday's rain coverage was probably a little less than that. Noon temperatures should already be up near 70°, with breezy afternoon conditions.  Winds should be out of the west-northwest at around 10mph.  Winds may gust up to 20mph.

When it comes to this early fall preview, it looks like it knows how not to overstay its welcome.  I am going to keep the cooler weather in place through at least Saturday with us seeing highs returning to the mid-70s on Sunday and the upper 70s on Labor Day.  Yesterday it appeared our best chance for seeing rain over the next two weeks was going to be on Labor Day and the following Tuesday. That rain chance has slid into Tuesday and Wednesday as of this morning.  We will continue to monitor things there. 

Just a quick mention about where we are with rain.  Today is the data cut-off day for Thursday's NOAA Drought Monitor drought maps, and things will not improve for us. We are already see a number of areas marked as abnormally dry. We will see that area increase and may even see slight drought conditions returning to some spots. We need a good rain. 

WEATHER LINKS:

Current Conditions | School Closings & Delays | Submit Your Weather Photos