Our springs are getting warmer
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Spring temperatures are rising across the U.S., and Allegheny County is no exception.
Why it matters: Warmer seasons and shifting rainfall patterns are likely to intensify extreme weather events like flooding in the Pittsburgh region — already the most landslide-prone area in Pennsylvania. Warming springs threaten ecosystems and worsen seasonal allergies, too.
Zoom in: Allegheny County saw a 3.1°F change in average spring temperatures from 1970–2024, higher than the national average.
- Pittsburgh had a 3.3° change.
Context: Nonprofit climate research and communications organization Climate Central examined 55 years of U.S. temperature data for 241 cities and found that the meteorological spring season of March through May has warmed by a national average of 2.4°.
- In a recent analysis, the group found that 97% of the places analyzed saw a warming trend for the season.
Flashback: The Pittsburgh region had its hottest year on record in 2024, with an average high 4.7° above the 77-year norm.
Between the lines: The spring warming in the U.S. is happening in tandem with increasing temperatures around the world due to human emissions of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas.
Yes, but: "While we have seen a gradual increase in area temperatures throughout the course of records dating back to 1880, any given spring can still have its fluctuations," Jason Frazier, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Moon, tells Axios. "It can still have temperatures that are warmer, but also times that are colder."
What's next: Pittsburghers can expect to see a slightly warmer, wetter spring this year, says Frazier. "Temperatures will hover around average," trending slightly above the normal highs in the 40s–50s this month, he says.
Zoom out: The fastest warming rates in the nation are in the southern tier, with the Southwest leading the pack.
- The cities that have warmed the most since 1970 were Reno, Nevada, which has seen average seasonal temperatures spike by 6.8°, followed by El Paso, Texas, at 6.4° and Las Vegas at 6.1°.
- One region of the U.S. has seen some cooling during spring, stretching from northern Montana into North and South Dakota.