High Wind — Blair, Pennsylvania

2025-02-16 · Blair, Pennsylvania

Event narrative

A period of high winds throughout the afternoon and evening hours were observed at Altoona-Blair County Airport, with winds peaking at 59 mph between 5pm and 7pm. A period of strong winds also occurred throughout the early afternoon hours of February 16, 2025 and into the morning hours of February 17th with multiple instances of damage throughout the county. In Tyrone, a large tree fell onto a roadway, blocking the intersection of Kettle Road and Birmingham Pike. Trees and wires were also reported on Cooks Hollow Road north of Tyrone, at the intersections of 17th Street and Valley View Road in Altoona, at the intersection of Rider Farm Road and Gwin Road in Altoona, and along Old Route 22 west of Duncansville. There were also multiple large trees reported down across Juniata River Road near Canoe Creek State Park.

Wider weather episode

A strong area of low pressure west of Pennsylvania during the evening hours of February 15, 2025 slowly drifted eastward into central Pennsylvania throughout the day on February 16th. The area of low pressure began to stall out across central Pennsylvania and deepen, allowing for an increased pressure gradient to set up across the area, with ample moisture being advected from the Atlantic Ocean under easterly winds. This allowed for widespread snow showers to begin across central Pennsylvania on February 16th during the early morning hours and continuing into the evening hours. Strong to high winds were observed across central Pennsylvania, highest across the Laurel Highlands with descending westerly flow from higher elevations and the Lower Susquehanna Valley near the tightening pressure gradient as the low pressure system continued to strengthen as it began moving offshore the New Jersey coast. In Somerset County, a combination of upslope moist flow and the tightening pressure gradient caused multiple hours of low visibilities from snowfall and blowing snow along with multiple hours with winds gusting over 40 mph, meeting blizzard conditions during the evening hours of February 16th. Damage from winds was observed across the Lower Susquehanna Valley, along with Bedford and Blair Counties where downsloping winds knocked down multiple trees and wires, knocking out power for portions of these counties.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1233774. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.