Pittsburgh to fall short of record-high temperature Monday but could be on track for wettest April

It’s hot outside but not as hot as it could be.

The Pittsburgh region won’t break a 125-year-old record for high temperature Monday, but by the end of the day Tuesday, a 123-year-old record for wettest April could be in jeopardy.

“This April has brought us a little bit of everything, from lots of rainfall to high temperatures,” said WTAE-TV meteorologist Jill Szwed.

David Shallenberger, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Moon, said the agency recorded a temperature of 78 degrees just after noon on Monday. The record high for April 29, set in 1899, is 88 degrees.

NWS forecast a high of 86 degrees at the airport Monday, Shallenberger said.

“Our next 80-degree day doesn’t come until Thursday,” Shallenberger said.

Highs for the rest of the week include mid- to upper 70s on Tuesday and Wednesday and mid-80s on Thursday and Friday.

While not record-setting, temperatures this spring are “well above normal,” Shallenberger said. In previous years, averages at this time were anywhere between a high of 67 and a low of 45.

“Records are abnormalities … it is an outlier, the temperatures we have,” Szwed said. “This early in the season, it is unusually hot.”

As for rainfall, the region currently sits at 7.93 inches in April. The official record for the month is 8.11 inches set in 1901.

Shallenberger predicts a 90% chance of measurable precipitation Tuesday, most likely after 2 p.m. That would mean breaking the April rainfall record is within reach.

“It’s going to be close,” Shallenberger said.