High Wind — Crawford, Pennsylvania

2008-09-14 · Crawford, Pennsylvania

Event narrative

High winds associated with the remnants of Hurricane Ike began during the early evening hours of September 14th and continued through late evening. Wind gusts were estimated to be around 60 mph with the strongest winds occurring between 8 and 10 pm. A 53 mph gust was measured by an automated sensor at the Meadville Airport at 9:28 PM EDT. Damage in the county was extensive with hundreds of trees and many utility poles downed. Scattered power outages occurred with some customers without power for a couple days. Homes and buildings were damaged throughout the county. The damage ranged from a few shingles torn off to significant structural damage caused by fallen trees landing on roofs. Numerous vehicles were damaged by fallen trees and limbs and also from flying debris. Substantial clean up costs were incurred by local governments. Some of the schools in the county were forced to close on Monday the 15th because of the power outages.

Wider weather episode

At daybreak on September 14th, the remnants of Hurricane Ike were centered over southeastern Missouri. This low moved rapidly northeast during the day reaching Northwest Ohio during the afternoon of the 14th. The low then moved up Lake Erie and over Lake Huron by the late evening hours. Damaging winds accompanied this storm system and caused widespread wind damage across northwestern Pennsylvania. Reports of high winds and wind damage began during the evening hours and tapered off toward midnight. The damage across the area was extensive with thousands of trees, power lines and utility poles downed. The time of year of this event contributed greatly to the amount of damage that occurred since the trees in the area were still foliated. Many homes and buildings sustained varying degrees of damage from the high winds. Tens of thousands of people lost power in Erie and Crawford Counties. Some residents were without power for several days.

Travel during this event was difficult in some areas because of the large number of downed trees, power lines and utility poles. Power outages caused many traffic lights to be inoperable which further hampered travel. Dozens of vehicles were damaged by fallen trees or limbs.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 136507. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.