PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – An unusually strong ridge of high pressure parked over Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley will continue to result in unseasonably warm to record-breaking heat across our region.
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Record highs will be possible today at several long-term climate sites in the Midwest and Ohio Valley. In Pittsburgh, we expect a high of 80 degrees, which if reached, would make today the warmest Halloween ever recorded. Morgantown, Wheeling, and Youngstown, OH, are also anticipated to reach record highs today.
Later this evening into tonight, a strong upper-level storm system that produced severe storms in the Midwest and Mississippi Valley on Thursday will move toward the Great Lakes. A trailing cold front associated with this system will move into Western Pennsylvania by Halloween evening into Halloween night.
Scattered showers and possibly a thunderstorm or two will move into our far northwest zones from Lawrence to Clarion counties as early as 6-8 p.m., but since these will be moving from southwest to northeast, most of these should miss Pittsburgh at least through the early evening hours.
After midnight, the cold front will progress southeast with more showers moving into the Pittsburgh metro and continuing into the late evening and overnight. Around 0.10″ of rain is anticipated areawide.
Friday’s high in the mid to upper 60s will occur around midnight with temperatures steady or falling through the day. A shower or two is possible in the morning hours in the Laurel Highlands.
Some lake-effect cloud cover is possible as well in our northernmost counties, primarily north of I-80. Temperatures will drop toward the low to mid-40s under clear skies by Friday evening.
More seasonable air will move in for Saturday as high pressure settles into the region. This will be brief, however, as a warm front lifts back north on Sunday. As the warm front moves in, expect more clouds and a few showers by Sunday afternoon, overnight, and Monday morning.
Another prolonged stretch of well-above-average temperatures is expected beginning next Monday. Temperatures could be near record territory by next Tuesday afternoon. A cold front will move in from the northwest late Tuesday night into Wednesday bringing a few showers and thunderstorms.
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