A powerful thunderstorm with winds exceeding 55 mph swept through Pennsylvania and Delaware on Thursday afternoon, causing significant damage and knocking out power to over 275,000 PECO customers. The storm downed numerous trees and power lines, resulting in a multi-day power restoration effort.
The storm's impact was widespread, with reports of downed trees and power lines across several counties. Trees fell on cars in Bensalem, and into houses in Westtown, East Marlborough, and Thornton. A 56 mph gust was recorded in Coatesville.
PECO urged residents to avoid downed power lines and to report outages. The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for parts of northern Delaware and Delaware County, though no twisters were ultimately reported.
While the immediate storm passed quickly, the long-term effects remain. The region is now facing a potential long-duration heatwave, with temperatures expected to reach 90 degrees on Saturday, exceeding 90 on Sunday, and potentially approaching 100 degrees next week. This would be the longest interval between 100-degree readings in Philadelphia since the early 1900s.
A potent and rapidly moving thunderstorm that generated winds gusting past 55 mph ripped down trees and wires and quickly knocked out power to more than 275,000 Peco customers late Thursday afternoon.
“This is going to be a multiday restoration effort,” said Peco spokesperson Ben Armstrong.
While no twisters were reported — although the National Weather Service had issued a tornado warning for northern Delaware and part of Delaware County — the storm struck with an impressive ferocity.
Armstrong said the winds were so powerful that they took down not only branches, but whole trees and poles.
Numerous trees were reported downed in Lower Merion Township, and snapped in Bensalem Township, where they fell upon cars. Trees fell into houses in Westtown and East Marlborough Township, Chester County, and Thornton, Delaware County the weather service reported. Tree limbs littered roads in Concord Township, Delaware County.
A gust of 56 mph was measured in Coatesville, the weather service reported.
Armstrong said anyone who comes near downed power lines should “assume they are energized” and call Peco at 1-800-841-4141.
While the entire region remained under a severe thunderstorm watch through 9 p.m., Nick Guzzo, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Mount Holly, said that any additional storms would not be as potent as the one that struck the region between 5 and 6 p.m. “It was an eventful 60 minutes,” said Armstrong.
The storm did its damage in a hurry. “It was really moving fast,” Guzzo said.
The bulk of the damage appeared to occur on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River, with Atlantic Electric reporting only about 4,000 outages at 8 p.m.
The mayhem was set off by an approaching front inciting a highly charged and saturated air mass.
On the plus side, it did knock back the heat. At Philadelphia International Airport, it shaved about 20 degrees off the temperature, which peaked at 93 earlier in the afternoon.
In the wake of the front, Friday will be dry and comfortable, forecasters said, with highs in the mid-80s.
But don’t get used to it.
A potentially long-duration heat wave is due to get underway during the weekend.
Temperatures could hit 90 on Saturday, and then assuredly will crest past 90 Sunday and may even approach 100 next week, a mark that Philadelphia has not reached officially since 2012. That is the longest interval between 100-degree readings in the city since the early 1900s.
And the heat wave could extend through the week, said Dave Dombek, senior meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc.
Given how generally temperate it has been the last several weeks, this week’s warm spell notwithstanding, Dombek said: “It’s going to be quite a change.”
If you often open multiple tabs and struggle to keep track of them, Tabs Reminder is the solution you need. Tabs Reminder lets you set reminders for tabs so you can close them and get notified about them later. Never lose track of important tabs again with Tabs Reminder!
Try our Chrome extension today!
Share this article with your
friends and colleagues.
Earn points from views and
referrals who sign up.
Learn more