Warm weather comes as surprise

Sophomore Stephen Kita stood outside the William Pitt Union Tuesday, the last day of January,… Sophomore Stephen Kita stood outside the William Pitt Union Tuesday, the last day of January, jacket in hand.

“I decided not to wear my jacket today because I woke up this morning thinking it was cold like yesterday. But then it was just way too warm out, and I was sweating inside my jacket and I decided to take it off,” the bioengineering major said.

With the temperature hitting 61 degrees Tuesday, Pitt students like Kita shed their winter jackets and basked in the sunlight in preparation for a week-long forecast that shows no signs of snow.

Though the string of warm weather has left Steel City dwellers slightly confused, weather experts cite Pacific air patterns — and not necessarily climate change — as the impetus for the unseasonably temperate conditions.

“We have been getting Pacific air, which is milder,” said Dave Samuhel, a senior meteorologist at AccuWeather.

Samuhel said the warmer Pacific air has spread over Pennsylvania because of higher barometric pressure in the area than was present last winter. Lower pressure allows colder air from Canada to sweep into the region.

“There have been a few days where we have had cold weather and snow … But compared to previous years, this is certainly different,” he said.

For Kita, the absence of white-coated sidewalks isn’t what he wants in a winter season.

“I was hoping for snow because I joined the Pitt Ski and Snowboard Club for the first time this year. I was planning on going snowboarding a lot, but because of this warm weather they haven’t been able to make any snow on the slopes,” Kita said.

Byron Steinman, a postdoctoral associate in the geology and planetary science department at Pitt, acknowledged the snow-absent winter but said the weather patterns are independent of global warming.

“No one year is indicative of a long-term trend. Just because it is raining more this year, that doesn’t mean that you could say that’s evidence of [the climate] getting warmer,” he said, noting that while people might be inclined to associate this warm weather with global warming, climate scientists look outside the period of a few warm weeks to make a statement about climate change.

Steinman did say, however, that a look at the average yearly temperature shows an upward trend, which is evidence of climate change.

“Absolutely, undeniably, [the climate] is getting warmer. That’s not necessarily my personal opinion, that’s the consensus of climate science,” he said.