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Pittsburgh Weather: Winter Storm Warning In Effect As Snow, Freezing Rain, Ice Expected For Western Pa.

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Good morning, we have a winter storm warning in effect through 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon.

Issuing a winter storm warning for more than 24 hours is a little unusual but does happen.

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(Photo Credit: KDKA Weather Center)

For us, the real 'winter storm' arrives late this afternoon, staying through the overnight hours. That is where snow, rain and freezing rain is all now expected.

The first round of precipitation is set to arrive this morning with accumulating snow falling by 8:00 a.m. this morning in Pittsburgh.

The snow should be fairly continuous through noon.

I have it coming to an end by 1:00 p.m. this afternoon.

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(Photo Credit: KDKA Weather Center)

Snow totals from this first round won't be very impressive -- probably just an inch to two inches overall for places south of I-80.

The snow will also represent the best snow chance for Pittsburgh through the winter storm.

The second round of precipitation arrives after 5:00 p.m.

It goes through at least 2:00 a.m. and could be around even longer than that on Tuesday morning.

If you are in Pittsburgh, expect a brief round of snow switching over to a mix with freezing rain by 7:00 p.m..

Snow should have come to an end in Pittsburgh by 8:00 p.m., but snow will continue in places like Butler county through midnight.

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(Photo Credit: KDKA Weather Center)

That is why snow totals in Butler county to the north will be higher than Pittsburgh.

Warmer air working it's way into our region overnight will muck up and complicate the second round.

At this point, it looks like temperatures in Pittsburgh will slowly rise overnight.

I have Pittsburgh sitting at 31 degrees at midnight, and 33 degrees at around 3:00 a.m.

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(Photo Credit: KDKA Weather Center)

The cold front arrives during the 3:00 a.m. hour with rapidly falling temperatures behind the front.

This means we will see evening freezing rain to rain, and this will cause travel issues across the region.

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(Photo Credit: KDKA Weather Center)

On top of issues on roads, widespread ice leads to a higher chance for power outages.

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