Pittsburg, PA
Pittsburgh area experiencing unprecedented tornado season
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A wicked week of weather has left residents picking up the pieces throughout the region after multiple tornadoes touched down, including the first in Pittsburgh city limits since 1998.
It’s been an active and unprecedented tornado season for Southwestern Pennsylvania, and according to experts, storm season began a bit early this year.
Over the past two weeks, we’ve seen storms and high winds create a path of destruction throughout the region, including last weekend in Washington County, before it started again yesterday in parts of Westmoreland, Washington, and Allegheny counties.
The National Weather Service confirmed 19 tornadoes in the tri-state area this year, with 10 in Pennsylvania.
Fourteen happened this month alone, the most we’ve seen in May since 1985. Four of those twisters happened across the Pittsburgh region on Friday.
These numbers are abnormally high. The average number for the entire year is six.
The Pittsburgh Zoo did not take a day off Saturday after a tornado came through on Friday. Parts are a bit messy with leaves and tree limbs strewn about.
On people’s minds was just how rare it was that a tornado was in the city itself.
Tornadoes and Western Pennsylvania don’t typically find themselves in the same sentence.
“It’s not something that usually happens; it’s like a Kansas thing,” Mat Georgetti said.
Or so Georgetti thought. He spent his day at the Pittsburgh Zoo.
“It’s kind of wild because we have a bunch of mountains here.”
Over in Westmoreland County, National Weather Service meteorologist Matthew Kramar was assessing the damage of what was determined to be an EF0 tornado.
“People are very lucky. It moved over highly residential areas. This is a crisis adverted in a way that the damage was as minimal as it was. The tornado was not very strong, but still enough to cause damage to trees, siding, shingles,” Kramar said.
He got a look at a trampoline that was mangled.
“All of a sudden, I saw the wind going crazy behind me,” Matt Kaninberg said.
Kaninberg says it all happened quickly.
“I didn’t think anything of it. My wife calls me and says you need to get outside now. I look[ed] out, and my trampoline was two houses down; it was crazy.”
Kramar says we average four to six tornadoes a year. We’ve had 19 this year, including 14 in May alone.
“We are well ahead of schedule on our tornado season,” Kramar said.
Zoo employee Christopher Haro experienced the storm on his way home.
“It’s a bit scary,” Haro said. “It’s a real shocker, I mean, the hot and the cold weather, especially this late in the season already, it’s a lot of devastation going on, so we’re worrying driving home, being inside the house or even with the dogs at home, it’s a lot.”
Everyone is hoping the weather simply calms down.
Pittsburg, PA
Duke’s Cooper Flagg throws down must-see dunk against Pitt
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Duke basketball star Cooper Flagg went viral for a dunk during Tuesday’s win against Pitt.
The freshman guard posterized Pitt forward Guillermo Diaz Graham in the second half of the matchup at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke beat Pitt 76-47.
Flagg picked off an entry pass near Pitt’s basket before going coast-to-coast and throwing down a powerful dunk through Diaz Graham, who was called for a foul on the play. The one-handed dunk sent Flagg’s teammates and the crowd into a frenzy with 17 minutes, 33 seconds remaining in the second half. Flagg hit the free throw to complete the three-point play.
Flagg finished 19 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, all of which were game-highs.
The 18-year-old freshman star is the projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft. Coming into Tuesday’s game, he was averaging 17.4 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game for the No.4-ranked Blue Devils.
Pitt came into the game on a five-game winning streak. Cameron Corhen scored 11 points for the Panthers, who were outscored 18-0 over the final 6:34 of the game.
No. 4 Duke (13-2, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) hosts Notre Dame on Saturday.
The Panthers (12-3, 3-1 ACC) host Louisville on Saturday. The Cardinals are on a five-game winning streak after beating Clemson on Tuesday. Louisville went 0-2 against Pitt last season.
Pittsburg, PA
Slumping Steelers Find Themselves in All-Too-Familiar Territory in Wild-Card Round
The Pittsburgh Steelers are the biggest underdog in the NFL wild-card round for the second year in a row. Yikes.
The Steelers will their face AFC North rivals the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday night, and right now, Pittsburgh sits as a 10-point underdog. This is unfortunately familiar territory for Pittsburgh since last year the Steelers were a 10-point underdog to the Buffalo Bills. The Bills ended up winning that game 31–17.
Pittsburgh is heading into the wild-card game on a four-game losing streak—definitely not the results the team was hoping to end their up-and-down season on. They didn’t score over 17 points in that four-game streak, and they haven’t been favored in a game since their last win, which came over the Cleveland Browns on Dec. 8.
On the flip side, the Ravens are coming into the playoffs on a four-game winning streak. Baltimore even beat Pittsburgh 34–17 in that span. The Steelers previously beat the Ravens 18–16 on Nov. 17.
Saturday’s game marks the fifth time the AFC North rivals have faced each other in the playoffs with the Steelers having won three of the previous postseason matchus. However, Baltimore won the most recent game in 2014.
The odds are definitely not in the Steelers’ favor, but they could surprise NFL fans this weekend. If Pittsburgh does eke out a win, it will be the team’s first playoff win since the 2016 season.
Pittsburg, PA
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