May 12, 2008

Where's May?

I don't know about you, but I'd sure like to see more sunshine and warmer temperatures in the month of May then what we've been having. Mother's Day was gray, wet and cool, (always sunny and warm in our hearts :)), with highs only in the 50s. Tonight the cold weather will continue as low temps drop into the upper 30s as skies begin to clear. Some areas north of Highway 422 even could see some scattered frost, but nothing here in the city. The forecast for the rest of this week calls for a return to the 60s and 70s with more showers by late Wednesday. By the way, normal highs for this week are in the lower 70s with normal lows near 50. Last year on this day it was 81 degrees.

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May 5, 2008

Cinco De Mayo

What a beautiful day for Cinco de Mayo!

Mostly sunny skies, low humidity and temperatures in the upper 60s and lower 70s.

If you do have plans tonight for dinner or some other kind of celebration, the evening weather looks great.

Last year on May 5th it was very similar to today as the high topped out at 72 degrees with a mix of sun and clouds.

You would have to go back to 2004 to have a sorta wet Cinco de Mayo. On that day we only had a trace. But rain or shine it's still a great day to celebrate and eat lots of Mexican food.

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April 28, 2008

A Chilly Tuesday

Let me start off by saying our normal high for today is 65 degrees and we're not going to be even close it.

You can thank one of those "L" you see on our weather maps, low pressure, for drawing down lots of cold air right here in our area. The cold, dense air, which does not heat up fast, will be on top of us, allowing temperatures to only climb into the upper 40s to around 50.

The other thing the cold air will due is squeeze out all the moisture in the air. So pockets of instability showers are possible, with even a few wet snowflakes in the morning.

And if you are looking for any good news, by the end of the week we'll be in the 70s with a chance of storms.

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April 22, 2008

Election Day Weather

You really couldn't have ordered up a better day for the Primary Election.

When the polls opened at 7 a.m. we had mostly clear skies and 50 degrees. By noon time, if you went out to vote over your lunch hour, it was mostly sunny and 67. That's when I voted and it wasn't too busy. There were a few people outside the building as I went in, not because they were waiting in line, but because of the gorgeous weather. And folks that waited to vote after work had it just as nice with temps in the 70s. And by days end if you didn't vote, you can't blame the weather!

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April 15, 2008

Turning The Corner

I don't know about you, but I sure love these spring-like temperatures that are coming our way. After experiencing highs in the 40s on Monday and 50s on Tuesday, I'm ready for the 60s and 70s for the rest of the week.

Our average temps coming up are in the lower 60s, so the above normal readings expected will be nice. If you haven't already dusted off the golf clubs or mountain bike yet, this is the time to do it. The only rain in the forecast is for the weekend, granted the timing's not great, but it's not going to be a washout.

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April 11, 2008

Cool Weekend

With a week where we saw high temperatures in the 60s and 70s, you would think they would last right into the weekend. Right? Not a chance.

A strong cold front moving across our area Friday night not only will produce scattered showers and thunderstorms, but it will also draw in much colder air. Instead of having temps in the 60s over the weekend, we are going to be in the 40s and 50s. And to make matters worse, we could see light snowflakes mixed in with the rain Sunday night. Got to love April!

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April 7, 2008

Spring-Time Weather

You've got to love the weather in the month of April. With more and more daylight and a stronger sun angle our normal high temperatures is 66 degrees by the end of the month.

We have already seen upper 60s this month, including this Monday, the Home Opener for the Pirates. It was partly to mostly sunny with temperatures in the mid to upper 60s all afternoon. The official high checked in at 68 degrees and I think tomorrow may be warmer with a high of 70.

The last time it was 70 degrees here in Pittsburgh was October 23, 2007. But April can also bring us below normal readings and snow. Our normal snowfall for the month is 1.5" with the largest daily snowfall occurring on April 3, 1901 when we measured 12.7". But at least right now I don't see any blizzards heading our way.

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April 2, 2008

April Fool's Day

With April Fool's Day behind us now, I thought I would share an April Fool's Day joke I pulled back in 2001 when I worked at KSTP-TV in Minneapolis. After a long, hard and cold winter, we were expecting our first big warm-up with highs in the 50s. This was going to feel great in the middle of winter. We talked about it all week and most of us just couldn't wait.

So on the morning of April Fools I thought I would put my plan into action. Since I did the midday show which was from 11 a.m. to Noon, I only had four weather hits to pull off my joke. I started out by saying the storm pattern has changed and the big storm we were tracking to our southwest is heading our way and we were not expecting 50s anymore. The forecast was now for 4" to 8" of snow. I can remember vividly both of our anchors looking at me with amazement. "What did you just say?" one of them quipped. I just reminded them that the weather is always changing and this does happen. Still, they were not happy. When it came time for my forecast I made a "dummy" forecast with the snow amounts on it and showed it for about 20 seconds, really letting it soak in. And then I said "April's Fools," and showed the correct forecast which included the 50 degree temps ... as predicted. Scowls went to smiles.