High Wind in Pennsylvania, December 12, 2000

A rapidly intensifying low pressure system and its associated cold front produced high winds across Eastern Pennsylvania during the morning of the 12th. Peak wind gusts ranged between 50 and 60 mph. A 50-year-old man was killed in Alsace Township (Berks County) when a tree fell onto his pickup truck at 930 a.m. EST. The high wind knocked down trees, tree limbs, power lines and holiday decorations. Several buildings, homes and vehicles were damaged by either the wind or fallen trees. The high winds spewed the streets with fallen branches and runaway trash and recyclables and knocked down numerous Christmas trees at nurseries. About 105,000 homes and businesses lost power. This was part of the about 450,000 homes and businesses that lost power statewide. Dozens of schools dismissed their children early because the loss of power left them unable to heat the classrooms and serve lunch. All power was restored by the evening of the 13th. The tree damage was relatively high given the reported wind speeds. Part of the reason was due to relatively benign winds in the latter half of this year. Many weakened trees were pruned by the high winds.In the southern Poconos about 7,500 homes and businesses lost power. In Carbon County the worst damage occurred in Lansford when a roof was torn off from a fitness center. The roof debris scattered throughout the neighborhood and damaged a rain gutter and broke at least one window. All of Jim Thorpe lost power when fallen trees took down wires in Weissport. In Monroe County, the greatest concentration of power outages were in Pocono Farms and Bartonsville. In the Lehigh Valley, about 7,000 homes and businesses lost power. A billboard was knocked down in Allentown. Several flights at the international airport were canceled. In southeast Pennsylvania, the 89,300 customers that lost power in the PECO Energy service area was the largest outage of the year. The worst damage occurred in Bucks County as numerous trees were knocked down. In Northampton Township alone, emergency personnel responded to 29 calls of downed trees and wires. In Bristol Township, a 300-year-old oak tree fell through the guest room of one house. In Middletown Township, sections of a roof was stripped from a building at Business Route 1 and damaged several cars. In Perkasie, a tattoo store had two of its large windows blown out. Most of the southern half of Sellersville lost power. In Montgomery County, a construction worker in Conshohocken suffered a head injury when a wind driven pulley struck him. Part of the roof of a Sears building in Norristown was ripped away. In Chester County, a brush fire was started by downed power lines in Modena. In Philadelphia, the wind blew out a window from a Market Street building. The peak wind gust of 53 mph at Philadelphia International Airport was the highest wind gust at the airport since June 1, 1998.Other peak wind gusts included 59 mph within Reading (Berks County), 58 mph at the Reading Regional Airport, 57 mph at FDR Park (Philadelphia), 56 mph in Lansdale (Montgomery County) and the Mount Pocono (Monroe County) Airport, 54 mph at Northeast Philadelphia Airport and Scranton Avoca Airport, 53 mph at the Doylestown (Bucks County) Airport, 51 mph at the Willow Grove NAS (Montgomery County) and 49 mph at the Lehigh Valley International Airport. The low pressure system intensified from a 1009 Mb central pressure in Missouri the morning of the 11th to a 984 Mb low near Burlington, Vermont the morning of the 12th. The rapid drop of the central pressure of the low of about 25 Mb within a 24 hour period is normally described as a meteorological bomb. This rapid intensification normally occurs over the western Atlantic Ocean, but when it does occur over land, could cause high winds and wind damage.