High Wind — Eastern Montgomery, Pennsylvania
2018-03-02 · Eastern Montgomery, Pennsylvania
Event narrative
A cold front stalled across the region on March 1st. Meanwhile, a wave of low pressure developed along this front in the Ohio Valley and move eastward, explosively deepening just southeast of Long Island on March 2nd. This large and very deep area of low pressure moved slowly east over the open waters of the North Atlantic Ocean through Sunday March 4th. This led to a variety of weather hazards during this time frame.
Strong northwest winds with gusts to near 60 mph occurred on March 2nd and 3rd. This led to widespread damage to trees and power lines, which in turn induced extensive power outages across the region. At one point more than 115,000 customers were without power in Montgomery County. An approximately 45 ft section of tree fell on a vehicle on South Gulph Road between Arden and Upper Gulph Roads in Upper Merion Township killing the 57 year old male occupant. A tree crashed on top of a SEPTA bus around 1300EST on the westbound lanes of I-76 (Schuylkill Expressway) in Lower Merion Township. Four minor injuries were reported.
Heavy rainfall occurred over eastern Pennsylvania on March 1st and 2nd, with widespread rainfall amounts of 1 to 2 inches. Areal and minor small stream flooding occurred.
As the rain changed to snow on the 2nd, localized heavy snowfall occurred, particularly over the higher elevations. Southeast of Interstate 95, up to around 3 inches of snowfall was observed. To the northwest of Interstate 95, nearly 6 inches of snow was measured with localized amounts of around 9 inches. Higher elevations mainly to the north of Interstate 80 generally reported greater than 9 inches of snow, with amounts up to 24 inches above 2,000 feet.
Wider weather episode
A cold front stalled across the region on March 1st. Meanwhile, a wave of low pressure developed along this front in the Ohio Valley and move eastward, explosively deepening just southeast of Long Island on March 2nd. This large and very deep area of low pressure moved slowly east over the open waters of the North Atlantic Ocean through Sunday March 4th. This led to a variety of weather hazards during this time frame.
Strong northwest winds with gusts to near 60 mph occurred on March 2nd and 3rd. This led to widespread damage to trees and power lines, which in turn induced extensive power outages across the region. There was one fatality in Upper Merion Township, Montgomery County, PA, when a tree fell on a vehicle.
Heavy rainfall occurred over eastern Pennsylvania on March 1st and 2nd, with widespread rainfall amounts of 1 to 2 inches. Areal and minor small stream flooding occurred.
As the rain changed to snow on the 2nd, localized heavy snowfall occurred, particularly over the higher elevations. Southeast of Interstate 95, up to around 3 inches of snowfall was observed. To the northwest of Interstate 95, nearly 6 inches of snow was measured with localized amounts of around 9 inches. Higher elevations mainly to the north of Interstate 80 generally reported greater than 9 inches of snow, with amounts up to 24 inches above 2,000 feet.
On Friday night, March 2nd, Governor Tom Wolf activated the Pennsylvania National Guard to support local response to the storm.
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 734042. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.