Thunderstorm Wind, Bucks
- When
- June 24, 4:05 PM EST to 4:55 PM EST
- Where
- Bucks County, Hilltown
- Measured
- 56 kt (64 mph)
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 40.333, -75.233
Damaging Wind in Pennsylvania, June 24, 2002
A severe thunderstorm caused considerable tree damage from Hilltown Township south along the Bucks/Montgomery County line to Bensalem Township. About 15,000 PECO Energy customers lost power in Bucks and Montgomery Counties because of the wind and the lightning.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
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.
A severe thunderstorm caused considerable tree damage from Hilltown Township south along the Bucks/Montgomery County line to Bensalem Township. About 15,000 PECO Energy customers lost power in Bucks and Montgomery Counties because of the wind and the lightning. About 1,600 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes occurred in their service area between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. EDT. The worst wind damage occurred in Hilltown and New Britain Townships where dozens of trees were knocked down. In Hilltown Township, Upper Stump Road was hit the hardest. In New Britain Township, a fallen large tree crushed the studio of a home. Several roads were closed by fallen trees including State Route 152. In Chalfont Borough, downed trees blocked Main Street for hours. A few trees were knocked down in Doylestown. In Upper Southampton Township, a downed tree damaged one house. In Lower Southampton Township in Feasterville, a fallen tree knocked over a chimney. Two people were also trapped in their vehicle by a downed tree, but were not harmed. Wind damage extended into Bensalem Township where some wires were pulled down.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 24, 2:20 PM EST, 1 hour 45 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jun 24, 2:20 PM EST, 1 hour 45 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ...ISSUED BY NWS WASHINGTON DC/BALTIMORE 320 PM EDT MON JUN 24 2002 UPDATED DSCN FOR TWO THINGS...SPOKE WITH SPC. THEY DO NOT PLAN TO ISSUE A WATCH FOR THE PHL AREA. CELLS ARE PULSING UP AND DOWN...LACK OF SHEAR MEANS THAT ORGANIZED CONVTN IS UNLIKELY. ALSO..PHI JUST CALLED ME ABOUT HEAT ADVSRY..AREA HAS NOT BEEN REACHING CRITICAL VALUES TDA..AND ALTHO VERY WARM A SIMILAR ENVIRONMENT WL BE IN PLACE FOR TMRW...SO AM DROPPING HEADLINE OF XSCV HEAT FOR TUE. RMNDR OF 300 PM DSCN... LOOKS LIKE AN ACTIVE PD OF WX FOR NJ/ERN PA OVR THE NEXT SVRL DAYS. BNDRY LIES IN SVRL DIFFERENT LOCATIONS ACROSS THE AREA TNGT THRU TUE NGT B4 CONTINUING INTO NEW ENGLAND ON WED. PLAN IS TO CONTINUE W/ CHC OF TRW THROUGH TUE NGT. AS MENTIONED THIS MRNG TSTMS MAY BE SVR...FEELING IS ONES THAT DO DVLP HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BECOME VERY HVY RAIN PRODUCERS W/ PULSE SVR. CHC OF CONVECTION CONTINUES INTO THE EVNG..THEN OVRNGT WL BE VRY WARM/HUMID W/ LOWS ONLY GETTING INTO L70S IN MANY LOCALES. HZ/FG WL DVLP OVRNGT. ON TUE TEMPS WL AGN CLIMB INTO L90S W/ DWPTS IN L70S. BUFKIT SHOWS A PD OF CAPES OVR 1000 TUE AFTN. WIND FIELD REMAINS XTRMLY LGT - CELLS THAT DO DVLP COULD AGN BE VRY HEAVY RAINERS. THINK WED COULD BE AN IN BETWEEN DAY AS WARM FNT MVS N OF AREA..BUT UPR TROF/NEXT CD FNT WELL BACK OVR UPR MIDWEST. WEVE MOVED INTO THE HEAT OF SUMMER...AND IN HEAT/HUMIDITY ISOLD CELLS COULD FORM..BUT WOULD PREFER TO REFRAIN FM POPS ON WED. TEMPS ONCE AGAIN INTO LM90S. SUSPECT WED MAY NEED HEAT ADVSRY AS WELL. THU LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER DAY OF CONVECTION...PSBLY BETTER ORGANIZED AS NEXT FNT APRCHS PA. THEN HIGH BUILDS OVR AREA FOR THE WKND. .PHI... DE...NONE. MD...NONE. NJ...NONE. PA...NONE. MARINE...NONE. GIGILISI
The radar
The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 82 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:04 UTC.
Event by event
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Thunderstorm Wind
- Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Heat in Pennsylvania, June 24 to 27, 2002
- Flash Flooding in Minnesota, June 24 to 25, 2002
- Lightning Strike in Missouri, June 24, 2002
- Tornadoes in Minnesota, June 24, 2002
- Tornado and Hail in Minnesota, June 24, 2002
- Damaging Wind in Louisiana, June 24, 2002
- Damaging Winds in South Dakota, June 24, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Wind in South Dakota, June 24, 2002
- Wildfire in California, June 24, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Nebraska, June 24, 2002
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, June 24, 2002
- Lightning Strike in New Jersey, June 24, 2002
More
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, June 2002
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: 5300709.