Winter storm watch issued for ice accumulations in higher terrain outside Pittsburgh

Locations in higher terrain outside of Pittsburgh could see ice accumulating Wednesday night into Thursday morning, a National Weather Service meteorologist said Tuesday.

With cold air in place, freezing rain will start developing over the area around 10 p.m. Wednesday, meteorologist David Shallenberger said.

In lower elevations, Shallenberger said the freezing rain will change back to rain by daybreak Thursday. But in higher elevations in Westmoreland, Indiana and Fayette counties where it will remain colder, freezing rain is expected to last longer and accumulate up to a quarter of an inch.

A winter storm watch has been issued for those higher terrain areas, Shallenberger said.

Here is the initial forecasted storm total ice accumulation amount. Expect freezing rain to begin Wednesday night and continue into Thursday evening before ending. Stay tuned for additional updates and changes to the forecast. pic.twitter.com/IU7eXOvuwu

— NWS Pittsburgh (@NWSPittsburgh) December 13, 2022

Pittsburgh and Allegheny County will see some freezing rain Wednesday night into Thursday morning, but Shallenberger said it will be very brief with no accumulation expected.

“There could be a short period of some concerns on the roadways, but it won’t last,” he said, adding that the precipitation is expected to be just rain by the Thursday morning commute.

Freezing rain will fall longer north and northeast of Pittsburgh before changing to rain, he said.

Cold arctic air is forecast to stick around into the weekend and next week. Some snow showers will be possible, but Shallenberger said not a lot of accumulation is expected.

Shallenberger said it’s a little too early to know if the Pittsburgh region will have snow for Christmas. Meteorologists will start including that in forecasts by the weekend.