Hot weather continues in the Pittsburgh area with some afternoon storms possible
The heat continues today, but the worst of this current heat wave is now behind us. When we hit 93° yesterday for our high, it became just the fourth time since 2000 that we have had a stretch of four days in a row in Pittsburgh with temperatures hitting 92° or above.
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Three of the four times have happened over the last year, with the only instance of it happening being in 2002. That's some crazy heat.
As the ridge began to break down yesterday, we did see a couple of places seeing downpours. While the Pittsburgh Airport had only a trace amount of rain, on the other side of the county, in Monroeville, radar estimated rain shows them receiving as much as an inch of rain.
Rain totals approached an inch and a half along the West Virginia-Pennsylvania state line.
Today should look very similar to yesterday.
I may be being too conservative with my highs, similar to yesterday. Yesterday was one of those days, as soon as I left, I was like "why didn't I go higher?"
Sometimes you make silly decisions at 4 a.m. Even with that, I was just two degrees off.
Under the circumstances, I am good with it. Storm chances today shouldn't be as widespread as yesterday. I am going for maximum coverage of around 40 percent. Any storms that do develop should be fairly intense, with downpours and gusty winds being possible. The Storm Prediction Center has us under a level one out of five severe weather risk for today.
We are also listed as having a low flash flood chance for today.
When it comes to the forecast, highs today should hit the 90s again. I am being conservative with my forecast, with Pittsburgh only hitting a high of around 90°.
I honestly should have our temperature at 91° or 92°. We hit 93° yesterday. 850mb temps have come down to around 19°C. They were closer to 20°C yesterday. I have highs dipping to the upper 80s on Friday.
Rain chances will keep temperatures in the mid-80s on Saturday. Saturday rain chances will be up from today and Friday due to a cold front passing through. Interestingly, Sunday will be warmer behind the front. Humidity levels will be lower, though, so it should feel pretty good.
I will keep the rain chance very low on Sunday and Monday, with another front bringing a rain and storm chance on Tuesday. Temperatures will be in the comfy range next week with no big rain chances sticking out at this time.
July 4th right now is looking dry and pleasant, but there's still plenty of time for something to change.
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