It's a new week and a new season as autumn arrives Monday afternoon and brings with it some much-needed rain. 

Any Alert Days Ahead?  No
Aware: Fall begins at 2:19 p.m.

It's been a while since Pittsburgh has seen any decent rain. The last time Pittsburgh had seen anything more than a trace amount of rain was on Sept. 6, which was more than two weeks ago. 

Since the beginning of August, this is only the seventh day with measurable rain in Pittsburgh. Since June 1, our rain deficit is more than four inches.

Any little bit of rain will certainly help turn around our increasingly dire drought outlook.  It won't do away with it though.

Looking at Monday, the best chance for rain will come early (before sunrise) and late (after 9 p.m.). Between the higher rain and storm chances will come isolated chances for rain, including what looks to be a brief storm chance around 4 p.m. as kids are getting out of school.

While not likely, severe storms cannot be ruled out due to fast-moving storms. Rain totals of around a half inch to a full inch of rain should be expected to fall over both Monday and Tuesday. 

While the chance is low, there is also a chance for a severe storm or two due to the forward speed of storm cells.

 Looking ahead, our best chance for rain will be on Wednesday night into Thursday morning.  Rain totals during this time should be between an inch to three inches of rain. Rain rates appear to be high enough that we could potentially get flash flooding. We will be keeping a close eye on it.

When it comes to the forecast, highs Monday should be near 80 degrees. Noon temperatures will be in the upper 70s. Winds will be light, coming in out of the southwest at around 10 mph. Skies will be mostly cloudy.