Damaging Wind in Pennsylvania, June 1, 1998

A line of severe thunderstorms intensified as it moved through the southern half of Montgomery County and did drop a tornado over Upper and Lower Moreland Townships. But before that happened, the thunderstorms caused wind damage in and around Norristown. In eastern Norristown, trees were split on two blocks. In Plymouth Township, there was a two mile long path of wind damage, mainly downed trees and a couple of snapped utility poles. Trees toppled onto at least three homes and/or garages and damaged at least two vehicles. In Lower Merion Township, major tree damage was reported on four roads. Roof damage also occurred to a building within the Wynnewood Shopping Center. In Conshohocken, trees damaged one home. The wind damage intensified further near the Morelands. Wind damage was reported in the neighboring townships of Abington, Cheltenham, Springfield and Upper Dublin Townships. In Upper Dublin Township, emergency personnel responded to 15 to 20 calls of downed trees blocking driveways and streets. PECO Energy reported 60,000 customers in Montgomery County lost power. Power was not completely restored until the morning of June 4th. It was the worst non-winter storm in PECO Energy's 50 year history and the fourth worst overall. According to their lightning detection system, there were 7,000 cloud to ground lightning strikes in their service area as this line of thunderstorms moved through. More than 350 poles were damaged and they distributed 365,000 pounds of dry ice.