High Wind — Northern Erie, Pennsylvania

2021-12-11 · Northern Erie, Pennsylvania

Event narrative

A tree fell on a car driving on Old French Road during the afternoon hours of the 11th. The driver was not injured. Winds gusted as high as 64 mph, which was recorded at Erie International Airport at 4:43 pm. Winds through the afternoon caused numerous trees to fall across the area including Millcreek Township, Girard Township, and Harborcreek. A large tree fell on a house near 4th and Pennsylvania in Erie. Two homes were damaged by trees on West 9th Street in Erie. At least 4 cars were hit by falling trees during the afternoon hours. In Harborcreek, a vehicle crashed into a fallen tree on Route 5, but no injuries were reported.

Wider weather episode

A strong area of low pressure was located over southern Lake Michigan during the early morning hours of December 11th. This low moved quickly northeast to north of Lake Ontario by mid-afternoon, deepening at a rate of almost 1 mb per hour. Ahead of this system, conditions were warm across the area with temperatures into the 60s in some locations during the early morning hours. Erie Airport hit a record high of 67 degrees. As this low pressure system moved east, it extended a cold front across Northwest Pennsylvania, which allowed for temperatures to crash significantly into the 30s later in the day. Behind the front, strong synoptic winds moved across the region with the pressure rises behind the system. Wind gusts as high as 64 mph were felt across the area with that highest report recorded by the automated weather sensor at Erie International Airport. Minor damage occurred across the region with downed trees and power lines and poles, which prompted numerous outages. Some of the trees landed upon vehicles causing property damage.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 999215. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.