Pittsburgh/Western PA WINTER ‘25/‘26

[EVLINC64]

1 hour ago, Ahoff said:

Coldest in my lifetime.

was  -17 as a Teenager & I was out all day playing street hockey 

[Burghblizz]

Damn -Zelie/Harmony area got to -20 to -25. That’s about 8 miles from me. 
 

I always consider the -22 in Jan ‘94 my coldest. And it as also windy during that period. Just brutal.
 

I don’t think there are great records of rural locations during that time. Certainly not like now. But you would have to think some backyards in rural areas were way below -30.

[TimB]

NWS seems pretty confident in the clipper on Friday. 80% chance of snow. About the highest I’ve seen for day 7.

[colonel717]

1 hour ago, TimB said:

NWS seems pretty confident in the clipper on Friday. 80% chance of snow. About the highest I’ve seen for day 7.

GFS, CMC, AI Euro, EURO all have it. Looks like a 2-4 inch type clipper. 

AIEURO looks awesome the whole run 

[Rd9108]

Some mood snow falling in the north hills

[north pgh]

9 minutes ago, Rd9108 said:

Some mood snow falling in the north hills

Yes I was just out in it. It put down a nice coating. Visibility dropped to about 1/2 mile for about 10 minutes. Nice fluffy snow globe snow. 

[MikeB_01]

Made it down to 1° in the backyard. Already up to 9° and with some pixie snow out there


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[Mailman]

Back in the game for Tuesday-Wednesday on GFS.

[EVLINC64]

https://www.weatherbell.com/ CV

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[EVLINC64]

BAM Weather

 

@bam_weather

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32m

 

 

We are monitoring a strong clipper system to push through the eastern Ohio Valley to end the week. We will need to watch for eastward trends with this one, however accumulating snow looks likely!

 

[RitualOfTheTrout]

2 hours ago, EVLINC64 said:

BAM Weather

 

@bam_weather

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32m

 

 

We are monitoring a strong clipper system to push through the eastern Ohio Valley to end the week. We will need to watch for eastward trends with this one, however accumulating snow looks likely!

 

Right now the Friday clipper has the best shot at a region wide impact. Crazy by then it will have been almost two weeks since our big storm and its been mainly dry since. The lakes freezing over has limited any benefit of the NW flow outside of a few dustings. Not high on the mid week thing, looks like more of an I70 south thing. 

Ill be curious to see how things look after next weekend. Some hints we might finally warm up closer to average at least temporarily. 

[Rd9108]

Call me a Debbie downer but this lack of snow with this non stop arctic cold is getting kind of old. 

[Burghblizz]

34 minutes ago, Rd9108 said:

Call me a Debbie downer but this lack of snow with this non stop arctic cold is getting kind of old. 

I agree. I’ll certainly deal with it for awhile because I do like snow on snow. But it seems longer than a week now. 

[MikeB_01]

1 hour ago, Rd9108 said:

Call me a Debbie downer but this lack of snow with this non stop arctic cold is getting kind of old. 

i was thinking the same thing this morning. I am done with it. I can't handle this cold for this long. To my core, im a warm weather guy. I love the snow, but i'll take summer 365

[MikeB_01]

Nam has the tues/wed system well to our south for us to see any flakes

[RitualOfTheTrout]

9 minutes ago, MikeB_01 said:

i was thinking the same thing this morning. I am done with it. I can't handle this cold for this long. To my core, im a warm weather guy. I love the snow, but i'll take summer 365

Kidding.. sorta. 

Cold would be more fun if we had a couple light events. Had the kids do water balloons with food coloring and we set them out to freeze and then peel the balloons off to make abstract ice art. Running out of interesting things to do. Need another storm before we moderate next week.

[TheClimateChanger]

Quite a wide variance in temperature on the car thermometer this morning. Saw as low as -8F at one point. Zelienople Airport had a low of about -15F.

National Weather Service

[blackngoldrules]

i was thinking the same thing this morning. I am done with it. I can't handle this cold for this long. To my core, im a warm weather guy. I love the snow, but i'll take summer 365

I'm glad someone else on here said it before me! Honestly, I'm glad the last one missed us. The brutal cold and mounds of snow everywhere starts to get old. I love snowstorms and loved the last one, but I like a little bit of a thaw after to clean some of it up at least. I know the snowpack guys here will hate me for saying this, but I'm more about the event itself than having snow all over the place for weeks after. I don't mind if there is some melting after. I live in an apartment that has giant mounds of snow everywhere in the lot and it's been tough to find parking around all of it. Anyway, that's just me. Lol

[colonel717]

Looks like we get a relaxation next week and wait to see how this polar vortex disruption affects us. I hope we stay snow covered until May...

Polar vortex to lock brutal cold over eastern US for most of February

Brutal midwinter cold is settling in across the eastern United States, and forecasters say it is not leaving quickly. A disrupted polar vortex is expected to keep Arctic air locked over the region through much of February, turning what is already a harsh stretch into a prolonged test of infrastructure, energy systems, and basic winter preparedness.

Instead of a quick cold snap, the pattern shaping up points to repeated waves of frigid air, severe wind chills, and frequent storms tracking along the boundary between deep cold and milder air to the south. I see a setup that blends complex atmospheric science with very down-to-earth consequences, from higher heating bills to dangerous commutes and stressed power grids.

At the heart of this pattern is a weakening and splitting of the Polar Vortex high above the Arctic, a process that specialists link to sudden stratospheric warming. High in the atmosphere, a rare burst of warmth is disrupting the typically tight ring of westerly winds that circles the pole, a structure that High Arctic winds Typically keep the coldest air bottled up. When that ring weakens or breaks, lobes of frigid air can spill south into midlatitudes, opening the door for the kind of persistent cold now aimed at the eastern United States.

Meteorologist By Andrej Flis has described how New model guidance points to a Polar Vortex split and collapse in midmonth, following a Strato event that is already underway. That breakdown is expected to send major ripples through the jet stream, favoring blocking patterns that keep cold air parked over North America and Europe well into late winter and early spring, a scenario detailed in Polar Vortex research.

Closer to the surface, the practical takeaway is simple: Additional cold surges through February are likely, and the odds of Much below normal temperatures across the eastern United States are high. Long-range outlooks highlight a corridor from the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley to the Mid-Atlantic and New England where the freezer will stay open, a trend underscored by guidance that points to Additional surges of Arctic air. For residents from Atlanta to Boston, that means fewer thaws and more days when high temperatures struggle to climb out of the teens or 20s.

Forecasters are also watching how this entrenched cold will interact with storm systems tracking along the jet stream. A much larger storm that expert Pastelok has flagged for just before midmonth could tap into Gulf and Atlantic moisture while running into entrenched cold, a combination that often produces heavy snow, ice, and strong winds. That potential high-impact system is already being scrutinized in February outlooks, which emphasize that the stormy start to the month may only intensify as the Polar pattern matures.

Forecasts suggest that the polar pattern will not flip quickly. The polar vortex will keep the frigid pattern locked over the eastern US through much of the month, with cold air repeatedly reloading behind passing storms instead of retreating north. Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski has described how this setup effectively leaves the freezer door ajar, allowing frigid air to escape southward again and again, a dynamic laid out in Alex Sosnowski analyses. Parallel guidance from dedicated winter pattern outlooks reinforces that the Polar configuration favors sustained cold rather than a quick thaw.

Even as the stratospheric event evolves, surface impacts will unfold in waves, not all at once. While the surface impacts usually lag the initial stratospheric warming by a week or more, the breakdown now underway has already been flagged in Typically delayed discussions of the event. Additional seasonal outlooks stress that Much below normal temperatures should persist across the eastern United States into early spring, with Additional cold surges through February reinforcing the chill, a message repeated in Additional outlooks. For now, the science points in one direction: the polar vortex is faltering aloft, and the eastern United States is squarely in the path of the cold that follows.

 

 

[TheClimateChanger]

6 hours ago, TheClimateChanger said:

Quite a wide variance in temperature on the car thermometer this morning. Saw as low as -8F at one point. Zelienople Airport had a low of about -15F.

National Weather Service

An impressive 43.2F diurnal range there so far. Can definitely see the effects of that higher sun angle, even with the snow cover. From -14.8F -> 28.4F.