The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch covering Allegheny, Beaver, Greene and Washington counties that is scheduled to be in effect until 10 p.m. Wednesday.
Strong storms are moving quickly across Ohio and are expected to arrive in Pennsylvania over the next two to three hours, meteorologist Shannon Hefferan said.
Areas west of Pittsburgh are most at risk of seeing isolated hail and possibly tornadoes.
“The environment is getting more favorable in Western Pennsylvania as we’re getting some more sun and our temperatures are increasing,” Hefferan said, adding that the temperature at the weather service’s offices in Moon increased by 6 to 7 degrees over an hour.
High dew points are also helping to create lift for thunderstorms, she said. Rain from storms could be brief and heavy, but they are moving too fast to pose a flash flood threat, Hefferan said.
Isolated wind gusts up to 70 mph are possible, the watch states.
While the watch runs until 10 p.m., Hefferan said the main window for threatening weather is expected to end by 7 p.m., and the watch could be canceled earlier.
A tornado watch has been issued for parts of Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia until 10 PM EDT pic.twitter.com/GccanPISL6
— NWS Pittsburgh (@NWSPittsburgh) March 23, 2022
