Western Pa / Pittsburgh area Winter Discussion ❄️☃️

[TimB]

A comprehensive list of all the Pittsburgh years that had less than 0.7” of snow from Feb. 23 until the last measurable snow of spring:

1. 1903* (0.1”)

2. 2021** (0.1”) 
*observations were not taken at KPIT, would likely have been more than 0.1” if the airport existed at the time

**still ongoing, though increasingly likely we’re done

[Ahoff]

Surprised there's no fire weather warnings up today.  Dew point is in the low teens.  I guess that 2" of rain helped supress that risk, but wow that dew point is low.  Wish it was like that in the summer.

[TimB]

15 hours ago, Ahoff said:

Surprised there's no fire weather warnings up today.  Dew point is in the low teens.  I guess that 2" of rain helped supress that risk, but wow that dew point is low.  Wish it was like that in the summer.

I’d settle for dew points in the 40s or even low 50s most days of summer. Then again, I lived in the desert for a few years and I swear I could feel a difference when the dew point started to hit 40 in summer.

Speaking of dews, most models shoot them into the mid-upper 50s later this week. Perhaps we can get favorable timing of the late week cold front to get a strong storm or two?

[TimB]

It’s back yet again. We know this pattern persists for months on end once it sets up, so it’s going to be another brutally hot summer like last year. Why can’t we ever catch a break in this ridiculous, very-likely-climate-change-influenced pattern?

[Mailman]

Hopefully a lot of 90 degree days in the summer.

[TimB]

48 minutes ago, Mailman said:

Hopefully a lot of 90 degree days in the summer.

I surely hope not, I’ve truly never understood the appeal of 90 degree days. Perhaps a warm weather person could explain, lol. What could be more enjoyable about 90 than, say, low 80s? What activities can one do that are significantly enhanced when the temperature is 90 as opposed to 83? Honest question, not knocking anyone’s preferences.

[Ahoff]

13 hours ago, TimB84 said:

I surely hope not, I’ve truly never understood the appeal of 90 degree days. Perhaps a warm weather person could explain, lol. What could be more enjoyable about 90 than, say, low 80s? What activities can one do that are significantly enhanced when the temperature is 90 as opposed to 83? Honest question, not knocking anyone’s preferences.

Says the guy that wanted it to be -15, lol!

[Ahoff]

Should we have a spring/summer forum started?

[TimB]

29 minutes ago, Ahoff said:

Says the guy that wanted it to be -15, lol!

Knew I’d get called out for this and figured it’d be you, haha. You know I’m all about records and chaos - I certainly don’t want 20-30 days of below zero mornings in the winter any more than I want 20-30 days in the summer to get into the 90s. If, come July, the models are showing us hitting 104 (once and only once, preferably with relatively lower humidity - think 2012 in the midwest - and a quick return to the 80s afterward - okay, that’s too many caveats), I’ll be all for it. But there’s a difference to me between setting all time records or near-records and having days and days of hot or cold misery (though, subjectively, hot is way more miserable than cold to me). I know some of us have talked about weather enthusiasts vs. non-weather enthusiasts a good bit on here, and all it takes is one look at NWS Pittsburgh’s Facebook or, to a slightly lesser extent, Twitter, to see all kinds of people who don’t appear to be weather enthusiasts saying things like “give me 90s with humidity” and I’m genuinely curious as to what makes those types of conditions enjoyable to some, because it seems absolutely miserable to me (as would be 100 or -15, but I’d take those for the weather chaos factor as delineated above).

[Ahoff]

3 hours ago, TimB84 said:

Knew I’d get called out for this and figured it’d be you, haha. You know I’m all about records and chaos - I certainly don’t want 20-30 days of below zero mornings in the winter any more than I want 20-30 days in the summer to get into the 90s. If, come July, the models are showing us hitting 104 (once and only once, preferably with relatively lower humidity - think 2012 in the midwest - and a quick return to the 80s afterward - okay, that’s too many caveats), I’ll be all for it. But there’s a difference to me between setting all time records or near-records and having days and days of hot or cold misery (though, subjectively, hot is way more miserable than cold to me). I know some of us have talked about weather enthusiasts vs. non-weather enthusiasts a good bit on here, and all it takes is one look at NWS Pittsburgh’s Facebook or, to a slightly lesser extent, Twitter, to see all kinds of people who don’t appear to be weather enthusiasts saying things like “give me 90s with humidity” and I’m genuinely curious as to what makes those types of conditions enjoyable to some, because it seems absolutely miserable to me (as would be 100 or -15, but I’d take those for the weather chaos factor as delineated above).

Lol, all in good fun.  I will say, I wanted to see that -15 too, but I like extreme wintry records in winter and very summery ones in summer.  So, while I'd like to see -15, I also would like to see 100.
 

So, I guess the answer to your previous question, I guess that for every one person that loves 90 and a 70 dew point, there's one that loves 0 and a -20 wind chill.

[TimB]

17 hours ago, Ahoff said:

Lol, all in good fun.  I will say, I wanted to see that -15 too, but I like extreme wintry records in winter and very summery ones in summer.  So, while I'd like to see -15, I also would like to see 100.
 

So, I guess the answer to your previous question, I guess that for every one person that loves 90 and a 70 dew point, there's one that loves 0 and a -20 wind chill.

I must say that’s actually pretty close to my viewpoint and probably that of many weather enthusiasts - that extreme seasons are a lot more fun than average ones. Fortunately we live in the type of climate where no matter what kind of weather you prefer, there will be plenty of times you’ll be overjoyed with the weather and plenty of times where you’ll be completely exasperated with it.

The Mrs. sometimes tosses around the idea of moving elsewhere but if it’s a place without four seasons as varied as ours are, that might be “irreconcilable differences,” lol (and I’m only half kidding).

(But I wouldn’t be opposed to living in this fantasy world the GFS lives in - without looking at climate records, this looks like a close cousin to those -19 lows in February that the models toyed with. It comes with a modest amount of snow too. Edit: Good thing that feature completely flipped with the next two runs.)

[OutnOakmont]

Will we get some of the white stuff this week? I hate to admit that I could kind of go for one last hurrah this season! 

[TimB]

Nearly every model has trended to an inch or less, but the NWS introduced the “heavy at times” wording into its point and click and shows 4.6” both at the airport and my house, though the zone forecast for Allegheny County and the forecast discussion are consistent with an inch or less. Not exactly sure what they’re seeing or if it’s a mistake with the point and click.

Edit: this appears to have been fixed. Less than an inch of snow.

[KPITSnow]

This squall rolling in means business. Visibility dropping to near 0

[Ahoff]

Just imagine if this was January or February we’d likely be seeing a few inches.

[OutnOakmont]

20 minutes and my yard and steps are covered. 

[Ecanem]

Shocked that this thread is dead after the snow today.  My grass is almost completely covered. 

[CoraopolisWx]

11 minutes ago, Ecanem said:

Shocked that this thread is dead after the snow today.  My grass is almost completely covered. 

Posting in the newer thread.