The best weather to work in, according to Kaczorowski, are temperatures in the 50s and 60s, and the worst is anything higher than 70. Rob Kaczorowski, the assistant director of operations for Pittsburgh’s Public Works, said he has witnessed his share of severe outdoor weather in Pittsburgh. It doesn’t have the extreme rise and fall in temperatures during the year that Pittsburgh does. Seattle, for example, is less than 100 miles east of the Pacific Ocean and experiences little rainfall in the summer. The further inland a city is, the more its weather tends to rise and fall swiftly. But Pittsburgh can only count on the water of the three rivers.Īlthough Pittsburgh is nearly 500 miles west of the Atlantic Ocean, its extreme temperatures come from being farther from large bodies of water, such as an ocean. Oceans can help steady temperatures by absorbing heat during the day and releasing it at night. “Combine Lake Erie, the Atlantic Ocean and the topography of the Pittsburgh area, the jet stream and mean storm tracks,” he said, “and you have the ingredients for a lot of cloudiness.” Rosenfeld explained that cloudy days and showers are related to the wind’s direction and location of large water sources anywhere from 15 to 50 miles from Pittsburgh. “That affects both summer afternoon temperature with cool river breezes and increased humidity, which may not be so desirable.” “The Ohio River, splitting into the Monongahela and the Allegheny, brings sources of moisture and coolness into the heart of Pittsburgh,” said Donald Rosenfeld, a 20-year member of the American Meteorological Society.

Pittsburgh weather