Not ready for winter?
The calendar puts the start of winter more than two months away, but meteorologist Scott Harbaugh of WPXI News predicts the first snowflakes of the year likely will fly Thursday in the Laurel Highlands, specifically in the mountains of Somerset County and nearby Garrett and Preston counties in West Virginia.
Harbaugh said a strong cold front will roar into the region Thursday, bringing in this fall’s coldest temperatures to date. That likely will result in a dusting of snow in the mountains, Harbaugh said.
SNOW (in the mountains) Thursday morning! pic.twitter.com/KvaFfVhcB0
— Scott Harbaugh (@WPXIScott) October 15, 2019
Lowlanders may need to break out their coats, but if Harbaugh is on point, they need not worry about snow tires.
“Most of the area will have on-and-off rain showers, 20-to-25 mph wind gusts and temperatures stuck in the 40s through the day,” Harbaugh said.
According to the National Weather Service, the Pittsburgh area typically does not see its first snow until November. And occasionally, as it did in 2017, the white stuff holds off until December.
It’s been eight years since Pittsburgh saw snow in October. In 1993, the region saw a record 8.5 inches of snow in October.
