Area just misses breaking coldest temperature record

The low was 13, which is one degree warmer than the mark set in 1976.

By MEGAN SWIFT
TribLive

Western Pennsylvania was just one degree short Friday morning of breaking the record for the coldest temperature ever recorded on Dec. 5.

Matt Brudy, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Moon, said measurements bottomed out at 13 degrees.

The temperature to beat is 12 degrees, which was set Dec. 5, 1976.

The closest Moon measurements came was hitting 13 degrees twice Friday morning: once at 6:10 a.m. and the second at 7:20 a.m., according to Brudy.

David Shallenberger, meteorologist at the NWS, said earlier Friday morning that measurements at Moon were stuck at 14 degrees since 5 a.m.

But if temperatures don’t drop before 8 a.m. or 9 a.m. “at the very latest,” then it’s not going to happen, he said.

Which, according to Brudy, it did not.

Chill sweeps across region

Despite measurements in Moon — which is where the records are measured — being stuck above the record, other measurements across the region were in the low single digits, according to Shallenberger.

North of Butler, temperature measurements were as low as 2 or 3 degrees Friday morning, he said.

“Keep in mind that some of these places are road sensors,” Shallenberger said. “Sometimes they’re not placed correctly.”

Also near the Appalachian Mountains, there were temperatures ranging in the single digits from 7 to 9 degrees.

“Around the Pittsburgh area, we’re still in the teens,” Shallenberger said, because it’s more urban.

What’s ahead for the weekend?

Today and Sunday are expected to have highs in the upper 30s, according to Shallenberger.

Tonight’s lows will be in the mid to upper 20s, but Sunday night lows will be a bit colder — in the upper teens to low 20s, he said.

“It looks like the coldest day of next week is going to be probably Monday,” Shallenberger said, with lows in the lower teens at night.

And the highest chance of any snow next week will be late Sunday into early Monday, with coating maybe coming to an inch, he said.

“The next chance is probably going to be highest on Wednesday,” Shallenberger said. “That could be a mix of rain and snow. We don’t have any official totals yet for that.”