High Wind — Lehigh, Pennsylvania

2003-11-13 · Lehigh, Pennsylvania

Wider weather episode

The combination of a rapidly deepening low pressure system moving through the Saint Lawrence Valley and a high pressure system building in from the Plains States produced high winds across Eastern Pennsylvania. The strongest winds occurred during two time periods: in the morning shortly after the low pressure system's cold frontal passage and during the afternoon. The peak wind gusts of the event mainly occurred during the afternoon. A Lehigh County man was killed by a fallen tree. A few other persons were injured by downed trees. A couple of buildings collapsed. Numerous trees, tree limbs, transformers and wires were knocked down and damaged homes and vehicles. Scattered transformer fires occurred. In some instances poles were snapped. Numerous roads were closed including some major roadways. The afternoon and evening commute was difficult because of many closed roads. Emergency personnel had the added problem with road closures because the high winds were blowing away the plastic and wood road barriers. Shingles, chimney covers, gutters and siding were ripped from houses and fences were damaged by downed limbs and trees. Vehicles were damaged by fallen trees and/or flying debris. Awnings were torn away, store windows damaged, roadway business signs were knocked down as were overhead traffic signs and traffic signals. Trash and recycling cans were tossed in the middle of roads. Some schools had early dismissal because of the lost power and many scholastic games were cancelled. The high winds made it very difficult to fight fires. It also led to blow out tides at times of low tide during the evening of the 13th and 14th along tidal sections of the Delaware River and its tributaries. Flights were either delayed or cancelled at Lehigh Valley International Airport. PECO Energy reported about 154,000 of its customers lost power in southeastern Pennsylvania. Metropolitan Edison reported about 110,000 of its Pennsylvania customers lost power and Pennsylvania Power and Light reported about 47,600 outages. All power was restored by midnight of the 14th.In Lehigh County, a 55-year-old man died when a one foot diameter tree fell on his vehicle around the corner from his house in Upper Saucon Township. In South Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania State Route 309 was closed for three hours. In Northampton County, in Easton, the high wind ripped away a six foot fiberglass slab from the Peace Candle in Center Square. A downed tree damaged the gutters and trellis of a home. Several homes in the College Hill section of the city were evacuated after a tree became unstable. Pennsylvania State Route 611 was closed and caused major traffic headaches in the city. In Bethlehem, a radio station lost power to its transmitter. In the Pennsville section of Lehigh Township the winds knocked down a wall of the Trading Post in the Indian Trail Park. The roof and another wall were taken down prior to the onset of the wind as part of a restoration project. The remaining walls had to be knocked down. The municipalities hit with the outages included Bangor Borough, Bethlehem, Easton and Wilson Borough. In Monroe County, Pennsylvania State Route 191 was closed. There were 20 emergency calls for downed trees in the county and about 22,000 homes and businesses lost power. In Berks County, in Laureldale Borough, a toppled four foot wide oak tree crushed a Sports Utility Vehicle. The mother walked away with just bumps on her head and a bruised leg. In Robeson Township, the wind tore a roof from a barn and partially tore a roof from another home. In Lower Alsace Township, a downed tree crushed the utility room roof of a house. The owner lost a truck to high winds the previous month. About 26,000 homes and businesses lost power. All power was restored by early on the 15th. In Philadelphia, a worker was injured when a three story dwelling under renovation partially collapsed. The worker suffered head injuries after the rear and side of the building collapsed. The roof was peeled from a Leverington Avenue house. In Bucks County, in Upper Southampton Township, a woman was injured when a tree crashed into an upstairs bedroom. In Lower Southampton Township, a pole and transformer crushed a mobile home. In Falls Township, a portion of the maintenance building roof was peeled away. In Warminster Township, downed trees and wires tore meters off an apartment complex and forced evacuation. Most of New Hope Borough lost power. In Telford Borough, a free standing cinder block wall at the rear of the Eckerd Drug Store collapsed. In Delaware County, homes were damaged by fallen trees in Collingdale, Secane and Marple. Springfield Township opened a shelter because of lost power. A downed tree damaged the township's radio tower and forced the police to operate on emergency power. Downed poles forced the closure of U.S. 202 and 1 in Chadds Ford. In Montgomery County, all the downed trees and power lines forced Lower Pottsgrove Township to declare a state of emergency. A roof was blown from one building and debris closed a major roadway for the day. Other major roadway closures included U.S. Route 422 and Pennsylvania State Route 29. A downed tree struck a van on the Schuylkill Expressway near the Gladwyne Interchange. In Upper Moreland Township, a downed tree fell into a bedroom of one home. In Gilbertsville (Douglass Township), a large portion of a restaurant roof was blown away. The hardest hit municipalities with respect to power outages were North Wales and Plymouth Meeting. In Chester County, a wall under construction of a video store was knocked down in North Coventry Township. In West Fallowfield Township, a barn burned to the ground in the Cochranville area. It took firefighters three hours to put out the last vestiges of the fire as embers spread to a field. Grain, hay, three tractors and a truck were destroyed. A tree damaged a home in West Chester. The hardest hit municipality with respect to power outages were Coatesville and West Chester. Peak wind gusts included 60 mph in Glenside (Montgomery County), 59 mph in Downingtown (Chester County), 58 mph at the Philadelphia International Airport, 57 mph in Ontelaunee Township (Berks County), 54 mph in Pottstown (Montgomery County) and Reading (Berks County), 51 mph at the Lehigh Valley International Airport, 49 mph in Doylestown (Bucks County), and 48 mph in Mount Pocono. The high winds were caused by the pressure difference between the low pressure system in the Saint Lawrence Valley and a high pressure system in the Central Plains. The low intensified from a 1004 millibar system over Lake Superior the morning of the 12th, to a 982 millibar low near Montreal the morning of the 13th to a 970 millibar low in the mouth of the Saint Lawrence River the morning of the 14th. Some strong wind gusts also occurred on the 14th and hampered power restoration work. Winds diminished for good during the evening of the 14th.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5328381. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.