Western Pennsylvanians heading to Downtown Pittsburgh on Wednesday evening for First Night festivities should prepare to ring in the new year with snowfall and temperatures in the teens.
About 3 to 5 inches of snow is expected to accumulate between mid-afternoon Wednesday and early Thursday morning, said Mike Kennedy, meteorologist for the National Weather Service Pittsburgh office in Moon.
Rate of snowfall will be light early on and pick up between 9 p.m. Wednesday and 1 a.m. Thursday. A strong cold front is expected to pass through between midnight and 1 a.m. Thursday, Kennedy said, which could result in snow squalls as First Night attendees start to drive home.
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“That’s the main impact,” Kennedy said, “just because, it being New Year’s Eve, people are actually going to be out later at night in a lot of cases. That’s when that front comes through, between midnight and 1 a.m., and that’s when we’ll have our quickest snow accumulation.
“That’s the hardest part, from what I understand, for road clean up.”
Temperatures will dip into the teens late Wednesday into early Thursday, Kennedy said, with a low of 15 degrees in the forecast. Blustery conditions could result in a single-digit real-feel temperature, he said.
