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
About 5 pounds of bees removed from Acrisure Stadium scaffolding ahead of Morgan Wallen concerts
Acrisure Stadium is buzzing with excitement ahead of the back-to-back Morgan Wallen concerts. Except it’s not the fans generating all the excitement — it’s about 5 pounds of honeybees.
The Fine Family Apiary in Monongahela said it was contacted on Wednesday about a swarm of bees clustered on the stage scaffolding. The apiary put the swarm in a “nuc box” and took them home before moving the bees into full-size equipment.
Owner Al Fine estimates the swarm weighed about 4 to 5 pounds and consisted of 12,000 to 15,000 bees. All said, it took less than two hours to get the job done.
Why do bees swarm?
Swarming is how honeybees propagate, Fine explained. According to Penn State Extension, during swarming, the queen and about half the workers leave their home to establish a new nest. The bees will form a temporary cluster, hanging out while scouts search the surrounding area for a more permanent home in hollow spaces like tree cavities or, occasionally, the walls of a home.
Swarms can stick around for several hours or days until they’re ready to move, Penn State Extension says. Meanwhile, the colony left behind is temporarily without a leader until a new queen is established.
With the swarm at Acrisure Stadium removed, Morgan Wallen’s show is ready to go on. The country music megastar will bring his I’m The Problem Tour to Pittsburgh on June 5 and June 6, along with multiple acts like Brooks & Dunn and Ella Langley.
Pittsburg, PA
Blanche says DOJ
Pittsburg, PA
Luke Bryan concert expected to bring thousands of fans to Pittsburgh-area farm
On Sept. 17, multi-platinum country music star Luke Bryan will bring his Farm Tour to 1846 Farms near Latrobe.
Westmoreland County is no stranger to large outdoor concerts. Some may remember the Rolling Rock Town Fair in the early 2000s, while others may recall Luke Bryan’s stop at a farm in South Huntingdon Township just two years ago. Now the country music superstar is returning to the area.
The Unity Township farm’s general manager, Aleisha Stas, gave KDKA a tour of the family farm, which dates back to before the Civil War. She says Bryan’s team first reached out after finding the farm on social media, but she says at first, she and her family thought it was too good to be true.
“This was around April Fools, so we thought it was an April Fools prank,” Stas said. “My whole family, we were like, there’s no way this is about to happen. But this has been incredible.”
Stas says Bryan’s team is handling everything logistically from parking and bathrooms to deciding exactly where the concert will be staged.
“If we have it on this side of the property, we can hold 12,000 people,” Stas said. “And if we have it on (the other side) of the property, it can be up to 20,000. But we have not determined that yet.”
Many of those decisions will be made as September gets closer. In the meantime, however, the farm is holding off on planting in certain fields until the final concert location is selected.
And while hosting thousands of people may sound a little intimidating, Stas says her family is excited to welcome fans to the farm for what they hope will be a memorable night.
“Obviously, we’ve never had this many people here before, so it will be a new thing for all of us, but we are not worried,” said Stas. “Luke Bryan’s team are experts with this, and I think it will go great.”
Tickets for this concert are currently on sale, and they will run you about $77 per person, plus tax for general admission.
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