Get used to the large piles of snow interfering with roadways, piled in parking lots and blanketing a frozen Allegheny River. Meteorologists say they could stick around until March.
After Sunday night’s record-setting snowfall buried Western Pennsylvania, residents have been wondering when the snow will finally melt. Five days after the storm, forecasters say it might take weeks before the region shakes off its white coat.
“Rapid melt can occur if we warm rapidly (say get into the 50s or 60s) or get warm and get rainfall as well to accelerate the melt,” said Brian Hutton Jr., a meteorologist for TribLive news partner WTAE.
That seems unlikely for the next month or so.
Hutton and National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Kennedy said temperatures are unlikely to climb out of the teens for the next several days as the region continues to grapple with the remnants of Sunday’s winter storm.
“I think the snow is probably here for a while,” Kennedy said.
On Sunday, most municipalities in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties got about 10 to 12 inches of snow, and more than 11 inches had fallen by 9 p.m. at the National Weather Service’s office in Moon.
The regional forecast shows temperatures early Friday morning sitting at minus 4 degrees and Saturday morning at minus 6. Considering wind chill, forecasts say temperatures were unlikely to rise above 5 degrees Thursday.
While Kennedy said there are many factors that contribute to the rate of snowmelt, which make it difficult to provide a prediction, long-term forecasts indicate a cycle of seemingly never-ending frigid temperatures will keep the snow around for a while.
The average maximum temperature in February will sit at 36 degrees and won’t rise until about March 1, when temperatures will reach an estimated 43 degrees, Kennedy said.
Typically by this time in the winter season, the region has gotten about 22.4 inches of snow. This year, the region has gotten 36.6 inches.
While short-term forecasts over the next several days did not call for additional snow and even had the possibility of occasional periods of sunshine, Kennedy said even the sun won’t be a big help in thawing the area because the rays reflect off the snow rather than heating up.
“We’re entrenched in a cold weather cycle. … It’s going to be a while,” Kennedy said.
Staff writer James Engel contributed.
