Snow — rare so far this winter — expected in the area
Snow – a rare occurrence in the area so far this winter – appears to be on the way.
The National Weather Service is forecasting rain and snow showers in the area tonight, with snow after 10 p.m. and wind gusts as high as 26 mph.
The forecast calls for possible scattered snow showers on Thursday, with gusts possibly reaching 32 mph. Some snow showers may continue into Friday afternoon.
Lee Hendricks, meteorologist for the NWS forecast office in Pittsburgh, said the accumulation in the Uniontown area is expected to be about one inch over night.
For Thursday, he said, “we’re just looking at some snow showers, and not looking for any accumulation.” But he did warn of “some blowing and drifting snow, with those winds.”
A winter weather advisory is in effect for parts of Fayette and Westmoreland counties from 7 p.m. tonight to noon on Thursday. In the Westmoreland Ridges-Fayette Ridges, including Champion and Ohiopyle, snow accumulations of 2 to 4 inches are expected with winds gusting as high as 40 mph. The NWS warned of slippery road conditions in those areas that could affect morning commutes.
The snow forecast is a rare one in the area for this year, Hendricks explained, as he described measurements in the Pittsburgh area.
“Since Oct. 1, we’ve had a grand total of 19.3 inches of snow,” he said. “The normal would be 31.3. So that puts us exactly a foot below normal.”
Last year at this time, he said, 28.9 inches had fallen in the area by this time.
“The long and the short of it is, we’ve had a winter that’s been much warmer than normal,” he said. Then he noted how the average temperatures for the last several months compare to normal: 3.5 degrees above normal in October; 5.2 degrees below normal in November; 3 degrees above normal in December; and 6.8 degrees above normal in January. And so far, he said, the area’s average temperature is 3.4 degrees above normal for February.
Information about some of the science behind these fluctuations can be found at https://www.noaa.gov/media-release/winter-outlook-warmer-than-average-for-many-wetter-in-north.