High Wind in Pennsylvania, November 2, 1999

An unseasonably humid air mass spread across the Middle Atlantic States on November 2nd. A couple of bands of showers preceding a cold front attached to a rapidly intensifying low pressure system moved through Eastern Pennsylvania during the late afternoon and the first half of the evening on the 2nd. These bands tapped into the very strong winds located just above the surface and mixed them to the ground. This produced wind damage in all of the Eastern Pennsylvania counties mainly in the form of downed trees, tree limbs and wires. Hardest hit were Berks, Carbon, Chester and Delaware Counties. About 165,000 homes and businesses lost power. The power outages interrupted polling places from Carbon to Philadelphia Counties and forced sites to switch to either paper ballots or turn on back-up generators.The only reported serious injury occurred in Berks County when a tractor trailer was flipped onto its side in Windsor Township on Interstate 78 in Windsor Township. Both sides of the interstate were closed. The highest reported wind gust was 67 mph in Downingtown (Chester County). In the Poconos, Carbon County was hit hard. Twenty thousand homes and businesses within 10 municipalities in the county lost power. Power was lost at eleven polling places. In the Lehigh Valley, Bethlehem within Northampton County was hardest hit with 4,500 homes and businesses losing power. In Berks County, dozens of roads were blocked by fallen trees. Hardest hit was Greenwich Township. In Reading, five roads were blocked by debris. A decoratuve ceiling was blown down from a parking garage and 2 roof stacks were knocked down from a brewery. About 10,500 homes and businesses lost power. In all Pennsylvania Power and Light and GPU Energy reported about 51,500 homes and businesses lost power in their service area in Eastern Pennsylvania which includes the Poconos, Berks County and the Lehigh Valley. Around the Philadelphia area, downed trees, limbs and wires in PECO Energy's service area disrupted power to 114,000 customers. Most of the outages were in Chester County and Western Delaware County. Peak wind gusts included 67 mph in Downingtown (Chester County), 48 mph in Mount Pocono (Monroe County) and 45 mph at both the Lehigh Valley and Philadelphia International Airports.