Pittsburgh Weather: Severe storms, including tornadoes possible this afternoon

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Today has all the ingredients of a nasty weather day for western Pennsylvania.  

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The most concerning number to me right now is 5%.  

This is the tornado threat ‘percentage’ given by the Storm Prediction Center for places up around I-80 today for the risk of tornadoes. 

I believe this is tied for the highest ‘chance’ we have seen this year. 

What does that 5% mean? 

It means that for any single spot, if you draw a 25-mile radius, you’ll have a 5% chance for a tornado happening in that ‘area’.  Our hail and wind chances are higher than our tornado risk and any downpours will also bring a chance for both low-level flooding and flash flooding in spots.

The setup is straightforward with an upper-level jet streak of fast and diverging winds parked over our area this morning and early afternoon. 

An upper low will slowly move east to our north. This will mean additional instability along with triggers for storms to develop. 

While we have seen some morning storms already, it really looks like we will be fairly rain free from 6 a.m. – 2 p.m.  

Storms will then develop in a line along I-80 before slowly dropping south. I think severe storm chances won’t arrive in Pittsburgh until after 4 p.m.

The storms from this morning were due to a warm front sliding through, with highs today hitting the mid to upper 80s.  We hit 83 yesterday so we will be hotter and more humid.  

You’ll notice the difference.  

Morning temperatures are in the mid to upper 60s and I have noon temperatures already at 80 degrees so temperatures are going to quickly be rising with winds coming in out of the south at around 10mph.

Looking ahead, Sunday won’t be as hot or humid but it will still feel like summer with highs in the mid-80s.  

Monday is now a First Alert Weather Day too with a cluster of storms now possible late morning into the afternoon. Strong wind speeds are the biggest concern on Monday.  

Monday highs are only expected to hit the mid to upper 70s due to the timing of the rain.  

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