Weather Forecast: Cold Temperatures on the Way

Just when you thought spring had arrived, golf ball-size hail and more rain showers appeared with threats of cold temperatures.

The good news? According to the National Weather Service, there should be little to no accumulation of snow over the next week.

The bad news?

“It’s going to be a lot colder,” said Bob Reed, meteorologist in Moon Township.

Around 4 p.m. Wednesday numerous reports of hail began pouring into the National Weather Service from across the region. Some hail was the size of gun pellets, some the size of golf balls, particularly from the Wexford area and around Latrobe and Greensburg in Westmoreland County, Reed said.

A tornado apparently touched down in Greensburg, damaging  Hempfield schools.

The area wasn’t immune. Hail began to fall from the skies around 4 p.m., at first dropping pellets the size of a dime. About an hour later, cars and rooftops were pelted with ice balls the size of quarters.

A sign of the times? Not exactly, Reed said.

“I wouldn’t want to say golf-ball-size hail is a normal event,” he explained, “but to get quick changes in weather, going from warm to cold, that’s not unusual for spring.”

Reed described the weather as a battle in which cold air in the north is moving against a front from the Gulf of Mexico. As the spring battle with that air mass persists, the result is “some pretty active systems that can produce some severe weather, whether it be golf-ball hail or thunderstorms,” Reed said.

The most active time for severe weather is the end of May and beginning of June, but severe weather can happen most anytime of the year, he said.

“Once we get into March, it’s not a shock when we get severe weather. We’ve had snow in May before, especially in the beginning of the month. It can happen, so it just kind of comes along with the season here.”

As for snow accumulation, the northeastern part of the state experienced several inches of snow Wednesday morning, with parts of Tioga County getting 6 to 10 inches. In the coming week, Reed said the area closer to Sewickley should expect little snowfall. Reed said snow could strike north of Interstate 80 or on the ridges, but even those places aren’t going to get much, he said. The cold front, however, is expected to last for at least the next week.

“I don’t see anything warm coming,” Reed said.

Overnight lows were expected to reach the upper 20s, with lows today and Friday in the 30s. Saturday and Sunday are expected to reach the 40s, with a chance of rain or snow showers  expected Saturday night into Sunday. The cold pattern is expected to continue as more weather systems move through to the South. 

Source: National Weather Service