Pittsburgh's weather today takes a wintery turn as light snow, which will shift to rain come sunrise, creeps into the region with accumulations looking minimal for most, though a bulkier drop of up to 4 inches might grace the I-80 corridor, according to the National Weather Service forecast discussion released early this morning. A winter weather advisory is in place for select areas of southwestern PA and northern WV, so be on the lookout for a potential glaze of ice on those higher roadways until noon.
The snow, which made an appearance earlier along I-80, hasn't caused much of a stir with visibility maintaining nearly normal levels, and warming temperatures throughout the overnight are set to possibly change the snowy narrative to a watery one before the cold front rolls in and, while such changeovers are expected after sunrise, it could be a tight race as temperatures continue to inch up beyond the freezing mark, the weather service predicts that a flurry of activity might spike with snow cell development before it all wraps up in the afternoon, turning back to all snow as temperatures drop. But not to worry about a massive build-up, any extra snowfall tonight should be light, keeping lines on the shovel even for the most snow-averse.
Monday looks to bring a brief calm in the skies with high pressure pushing in cool and dry conditions throughout the day. However, this is just a momentary break before the next round of precipitation arrives Monday night leading into Tuesday, as another weather system sweeps in likely to lay down a few more inches of snow across the area, models have continued to trend farther south with the low track, and our position on the far northern edge of this system will keep most p-type as snow for much of the region, says the National Weather Service.
It seems we're stuck in a weather pattern that keeps things interesting over Pittsburgh, and the week keeps the momentum with snow and rain expected to dip in and out, hitting us again on Tuesday, Thursday, and possibly into the weekend while below-normal temperatures are set to stick around, so strap in and keep the winter gear handy as the highs hover around the 30s, the National Weather Service Pittsburgh suggests.
In terms of aviation, expect to see ceilings drop to MVFR as the cold front pushes east across the region, with gusts potentially hitting the 15 to 25 knots mark ahead of the front and possibly peaking higher during its passage. Mind the change in wind direction to west-southwesterly, which could kick up gusts to that 30-40 knot range, though this gusty affair should settle down overnight with winds losing steam after midnight, and if you're flying in or out FKL/DUJ, watch for potential IFR reductions early into Monday as snow showers could sneak in.
