Severe weather with high winds and hail could move into Western Pennsylvania Wednesday afternoon.

Matt Brudy, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Moon, said there is one bout of showers coming through the area in the late morning into the afternoon — but another round Wednesday evening poses the risk of severe weather.

“We’re expecting a cold front to come through with showers and storms,” he said.

The storms are expected to begin around 4 p.m., according to Brudy.

As of 11 a.m., he said there were no tornado warnings or watches that have been issued. The National Weather Service will know more as the day goes on. Brudy said ideally, a tornado watch would come out a couple hours before the storm starts.

“If we start to get more confident, I think we may put out a watch, but we’re still not entirely confident how it’s going to go, so we’re just holding off and evaluating through the morning hours here,” Brudy said. “The watch means the conditions are favorable for tornadoes to develop, and the warning means that there’s a tornado ongoing or imminent.”

Risk for strong storms

Brudy said Western Pennsylvania has “a lot of wind shear in the environment,” meaning how the wind changes speed or direction. This is an ingredient that supports stronger storms, he said.

“So when you get that combined with some instability in the atmosphere, those two can come together to strengthen any existing thunderstorms and pose any of those threats,” Brudy said.

The warm weather impacts the possibility for severe storms as well, he said.

“The warmer we get, the more juice the environment has to work with,” Brudy said, “so that’s primarily the uncertainties with the rain and the clouds this morning — how warm we can get.”

The forecast for Wednesday in terms of temperature is a high of 74 degrees and a low of 34 degrees.

Severe weather is not uncommon for Western Pennsylvania, according to Brudy.

“It’s just a day where the atmosphere is capable of supporting storms,” he said. “We just make sure that’s how we’re getting the word out ahead of time, make sure people are prepared and then to heed any watches or warnings that may come out later.”

Brudy advised locals to stay weather aware amid the incoming storm.

And in the event of a tornado, he said to stay inside a sturdy structure — on the lowest floor people can be on away from any windows.