The Pittsburgh area was treated to what a National Weather Service meteorologist called “snow globe snow” on Tuesday.
“It’s very pretty. But, luckily, our ground is warm, so we’re not seeing it accumulate to the point it would cause any problems,” meteorologist Myranda Fullerton said.
How true that was appeared to vary greatly from one area to another across Pittsburgh, as some issues were reported on the roads.
Emergency dispatchers in Armstrong and Westmoreland counties reported minor crashes were happening all over both counties. A Butler County dispatcher said they were not having any issues.
In Allegheny County, a dispatcher said they had seen nothing significant. A single-vehicle crash closed Route 28 south at the Burtner Road exit about 3:30 p.m., but it was not known if the crash occurred because of the weather.
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The big flakes that filled the sky in the early afternoon, becoming the first measurable snow of the season, drove some people to tend to their tires.
Henry Hoffman, manager of Highland Tire in Tarentum, said Tuesday’s snow didn’t create the rush for snow tires that often happens.
“We’ve been busy like this for about the past three weeks,” said Hoffman, as at least 15 vehicles lined up outside the shop on Boyd Street about 2 p.m. He said the line has shrunk and grown throughout the day, but the wait isn’t long.
“We’ve been doing this for more than 60 years, so we know how to keep things moving when it’s busy,” he said.
Fullerton said the snow wasn’t expected to last long, changing over to rain, with some mist and fog expected.
Before doing that, snow accumulated mainly on grassy and elevated surfaces. Ground-surface roads stayed clear because they’re still very warm, she said.
How much snow accumulated on various surfaces varied widely across the region. While there was little to none closer to the city, the weather service measured about an inch at its offices in Moon, where records are measured, meteorologist Michael Brown said.
It’s a little earlier than usual for there to have been that much snow. Since 1996, there has been an inch of snow on or before Nov. 15 only five times, Brown said.
After the region’s “second summer” came to an abrupt end last week, temperatures are forecast to stay below average. A mix of rain and snow is in the forecast for the next couple of days, with no accumulation in the Pittsburgh region, but a higher chance for it along the Interstate 80 corridor, closer to Lake Erie and in the higher elevations, Fullerton said.
