Steel City residents, brace yourselves for a mixed bag of weather this week. The National Weather Service out of Pittsburgh is forecasting scattered showers and storms today, with a slow-moving boundary putting some areas at risk of flooding this afternoon and evening. Meanwhile, Tuesday should offer a bit of a respite before the heat, flooding, and severe weather concerns make a comeback midweek.
For today, expect isolated to widely-scattered morning showers, followed by scattered afternoon thunderstorms mainly south of Pittsburgh, said the NWS, noting also a low-end flooding risk mainly south and east of Pittsburgh due in part to slow-moving storms. Daytime highs should hit the mid-80s, and those sticky dewpoints are hovering around the 70s, making the real-feel temps press close to 90 degrees. Tonight won't bring much relief with warm and humid lows in the upper 60s to round 70.
Looking into the short term, Tuesday through Thursday, the weather outlook sees a touch more warmth with lower chances of precipitation on Tuesday and a spike in heat on Wednesday and Thursday. Terrains like valleys and urban areas have a 50%-70% chance of highs of 90 or higher, according to the NWS. And there'll be minimal cooling after sundown, as dewpoints and overnight lows are projected to stay at 70°F or higher. Wednesday might just feel like the hottest day of the week, with heat index values rising into the mid to upper 90s.
As for the long haul, a front on Friday should usher in more seasonable temperatures. However, NWS warns of non-zero severe threats, and multiple rounds of diurnal storms will also increase the flooding risk slightly. Post-frontal passage, Friday afternoon could potentially cool to temps closer to seasonal averages, but expect more diurnal storms throughout the weekend with an increased chance of precipitation due to the lingering effects of a possibly slower, weaker 500mb trough.
Aviation-wise, the early hours saw pockets of SCT/BKN stratocu form around the area with cigs ranging from 3.5kft to 6kft AGL, according to the NWS report. For Monday, scattered showers to the west in the morning and thunderstorm activity near and southeast of Pittsburgh in the afternoon could bring localized restrictions. Still, outside of those events, VFR conditions should prevail. The subsequent days might veer toward more widespread restrictions with increasing moisture and the associated weather risks.
The National Weather Service issued no watches or warnings at the time of the report.
