Pittsburgh residents can expect some rain showers and a few isolated thunderstorms this evening through early Friday, according to the National Weather Service Pittsburgh PA. The forecast discussion, released at 3:12 AM EDT on Thursday, indicates that the approaching cold front will bring a slight change in the weather before the Labor Day weekend arrives. As the front dissipates, conditions are slated to become dry and tranquil, with a warming trend in the works for the holiday weekend.
Rainfall is anticipated to arrive in the city after 3 pm today; however, accumulations are expected to remain light, generally under a quarter of an inch, according to the forecast discussion. Notably, the chances of at least MVFR conditions are described as generally greater than 60% overnight for Aviation, with IFR conditions being more marginal and, thus, uncatalogued for the time being. Friday morning could still carry lingering MVFR/IFR restrictions, before conditions improve later in the day.
While the early morning skies have shown a scattering of cirrus, temperatures are dropping into the 40s, rooted in a clear night sky's radiational cooling. A cold front from the Great Lakes is likely to hit eastern Ohio by late afternoon and could bring a few lightning strikes north of Pittsburgh, where Lake Erie's residual warmth gives rise to greater instability.
Looking ahead to the Labor Day weekend, the city is forecast to have "quiet and dry" conditions. Temperatures are expected to hover below average on Saturday and Sunday before potentially starting to rise by the middle of the following week. However, the report signifies that model certainty begins to decline by midweek, with a potential trough development instigating a roughly 40% variance in model predictions on whether temperatures will hold near average or rise above it.
Pittsburgh's airports should observe high pressure and scatter high clouds with light winds throughout the early morning, though light winds might pick up later in the day. Mixing into a higher pressure gradient today may generate some westerly afternoon gusts up to 20kts for ports, stated the Aviation report. Despite a cold front forecast to cross the region, mainly tonight, increased confidence is placed in a VFR outlook across the Labor Day weekend due to high pressure.
No watches, warnings, or advisories are currently in place for Pennsylvania, Ohio, or West Virginia. The complete and updated weather information can be found on the National Weather Service Pittsburgh PA website.
