Pennsylvania, 1996

High Wind in Pennsylvania, February 24, 1996

February 24, 1996 · NWS PHI · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

The difference in surface pressure between an intensifying low pressure system over northern New England and a high pressure system over the Tennessee Valley produced high winds across parts of Southeast Pennsylvania on the 24th. What was unusual about this high wind event, the day featured considerable sunshine and unseasonably warm temperatures.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
3

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS PHI wrote it up.

The difference in surface pressure between an intensifying low pressure system over northern New England and a high pressure system over the Tennessee Valley produced high winds across parts of Southeast Pennsylvania on the 24th. What was unusual about this high wind event, the day featured considerable sunshine and unseasonably warm temperatures. Downed trees and power lines caused power outages to about 45,000 Philadelphia Electric Company customers throughout its service area. Hardest hit were lower Bucks County, the Upper Dublin area of Montgomery and Delaware County. Two cars were crushed by falling trees and the frame of a house under construction in Concord (Delaware County) crumbled.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Montgomery

When
February 24, 10:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
Where
Montgomery forecast zone

High Wind, Bucks

When
February 24, 10:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
Where
Bucks forecast zone

High Wind, Delaware

When
February 24, 10:00 AM EST to 6:00 PM EST
Where
Delaware forecast zone
Coordinates
39.917, -75.399 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

High Wind
Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Pennsylvania in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, February 1996

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5551833, 5551834, 5551835.