It’s a bitter cold morning in the Pittsburgh area but warmer temperatures will be arriving to the region soon.
Any Alert Days Ahead? This morning is a First Alert Weather Day.
Aware: Yesterday was the 17th day in a row without temperatures above freezing. This is good for the 12th-longest stretch ever. It’s the longest stretch since 2018.
It’s been more than two weeks since we have last seen temperatures above the freeze mark of 32°. The last time we were over 32° was on Thursday, January 22nd. Temperatures have been VERY cold since then, and I am sure you, like me, are excited about seeing your monthly electric bill. There is good news on the horizon, as temperatures are expected to surge to the mid-40s on Tuesday for highs.
There’s a chance that we may even see the 50s in some spots tomorrow. Won’t that feel nice?
KDKA Weather Center
The warmth won’t stick around for too long with evening rain chances back on Tuesday turning to snow chances on Wednesday morning behind another cold front. This time, though, temperatures aren’t expected to plummet too far with the rest of the week seeing lows in the teens or low 20s.
The pattern overall isn’t too active over the next week, with the only chances for precipitation coming on Tuesday and Wednesday. For the year so far, we have seen 2.29″ of rain and are 1.38″ behind the yearly ‘average’ pace. It could be a while before we see any real rain here in our area.
KDKA Weather Center
Some data is hinting at a mid-level low around the 22nd of this month, bringing a mix of rain and snow our way, and it is something we are monitoring.
Is there a relationship between cold weather and insect activity?
With the lull in the weather, I wanted to see if there’s any relationship when it comes to cold weather and insect activity. Today should be the 18th day in a row with temperatures at or below 32°. The last time we saw a stretch of weather like this was in 2018. I went back and looked at the data when it comes to West Nile Virus in Allegheny County in 2018 and the years after. In 2018, we had 5 total cases for the year. You would assume all those cases come during the summer months and after the VERY cold winter that we had. There were no cases in 2019 and 2020. We had three cases in 2021. 2022 we saw two cases. One case in 2023 and four total cases in 2024. West Nile virus is spread through mosquitoes.
Lyme disease is spread through ticks, and there were especially low numbers of Lyme disease cases reported in 2014-2017. This may be due to a slew of strong winters, including 2010 with Snowmageddon. Numbers have been ticking up, especially since 2018. It will be interesting to see if Lyme disease cases shoot down after dealing with the cold weather.
Finally, just a heads up, large animals that would normally be fairly still at this time of the year are out and looking for food with all the snow on the ground. Normally, February starts the time of the year with the fewest car crashes due to deer. That’s not going to be the case this year. Those new doe mommas need to eat and will be out and about looking for food.
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