A line of strong storms headed northeast will lengthen over the next few hours and bring heavy thunderstorms and potentially severe weather late Wednesday night to the Pittsburgh region, according to the National Weather Service.
The NWS issued a hazardous weather advisory for all of Southwestern Pennsylvania for Wednesday evening, with thunderstorms bringing primarily strong winds.
Even as the stormfront is moving northeast, according to radar projections, its southern tip is lengthening. NWS meteorologist Pat Herald said that’s the result of different convective elements moving around within the storm system.
A weak cold front will spawn showers and thunderstorms across the Upper Ohio Valley Region tonight. Some storms may be severe with damaging wind gusts as the primary threat. pic.twitter.com/IDN3OwKfMV
— NWS Pittsburgh (@NWSPittsburgh) July 20, 2022
“The whole front is sliding eastward generating the storms, and those get picked up by the wind and move north,” Herald said. “It’s typical to get a cold front coming through this time of year. And with the humidity and the heat, it provides (wind) shear within the atmosphere that lends structure to the storm.”
Herald said the good news is that the storm’s project arrival – roughly 11 p.m. – isn’t until well after sundown.
“It’s coming late, after sunset, and we think that some of the system’s instability will be waning a little bit by then,” Herald said.
For the latest forecast, see Weather.gov.
