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Weather has us singing the blues, but not seeing them

Weather has us singing the blues, but not seeing them

If Sunday's Steelers debacle has you feeling a little gloomy, don't expect the weather to cheer you up any time soon.

While winter won't officially start for another 11 days, depressing weather has already made its appearance.

The days are short. The clouds are thick. Precipitation is unpredictable. The sun is scarce.

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"This time of year," said National Weather Service meteorologist Brad Rehak, "you're lucky if you see it once or twice a week."

In the case of this week, a sunny Saturday with temperatures in the 30s may be your only chance, albeit a short one. Mr. Rehak said the weather is expected to clear by the weekend, but only for Saturday in all likelihood. And with the shortest day of the year approaching, the sun will set by 4:54 p.m. anyway. Then it will be right back to standard December weather for perhaps another week.

The first 10 days of the month have been fairly wet, too. Some measurable amount of rain or snow has fallen every day except one, Thursday, according to National Weather Service data.

Yesterday, less than a hundredth of an inch of rain fell outside the National Weather Service headquarters at Pittsburgh International Airport, but some parts of the region received up to a quarter of an inch, Mr. Rehak said.

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The heaviest rain fell to the south of the city, which explains why the Monongahela River ran 3 to 5 feet higher than normal, closing the Mon Wharf yesterday. A flood advisory will be in effect for the Mon until this evening, eliminating parking spaces for about 600 Downtown commuters again today.

The persistent precipitation in the past week has been the result of a horizontal jet stream, moving west to east, carrying systems from the Pacific Ocean right through Pennsylvania, Mr. Rehak said.

The weather pattern has paralyzed parts of the Midwest, where an ice storm over the weekend contributed to 14 deaths and left about 600,000 without power. The severe weather elsewhere has had little impact on flights arriving or departing Pittsburgh International Airport, spokeswoman JoAnn Jenny said.

Aside from the Mon Wharf, the rain isn't expected to cause any flooding. Even though showers are expected tonight and tomorrow, a break in the rain was expected overnight.

"That gives us a day for the water to recede," Mr. Rehak said.

First Published: December 11, 2007, 5:00 a.m.

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