Damaging Wind in Pennsylvania, May 14, 2002

Name: Damaging Wind in Pennsylvania, May 14, 2002
Start: 2002-05-14T13:45
End: 2002-05-14T14:30
Location: Pennsylvania

May 14, 2002 · NWS PHI · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Damaging winds pulled down trees and wires across central Montgomery County from Norristown to North Wales. Several roads were blocked.

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

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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.

Damaging winds pulled down trees and wires across central Montgomery County from Norristown to North Wales. Several roads were blocked. At least one vehicle was damaged by fallen trees. PECO Energy reported about 20,200 customers lost power in Bucks and Montgomery Counties because of the winds.

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 May 14, 9:55 AM EST, 3 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 14, 9:55 AM EST, 3 hours 50 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
1055 AM EDT TUE MAY 14 2002

AFTERNOON WIND FORECAST STILL LOOKS OK. 12Z SOUNDINGS...06Z ETA
BUFKIT SOUNDINGS...AND LOCAL CHECKLIST SAY CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR FOR
WIND ADVISORY. THANKS OKX FOR COORDINATION.

H5 SHORTWAVE PASSES THROUGH NORTHERN HALF OF FA THIS AFTERNOON.
H8-H5 LAPSE RATES STEEPEN THIS AFTERNOON...SO AN ISOLATED RUMBLE OF
THUNDER UP NORTH NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION AS THE SHORTWAVE PASSES
THROUGH.

AFTERNOON TEMPS ALSO LOOK PRETTY GOOD OVER MOST OF THE AREA. WILL
JUST MAKE SOME MINOR ADJUSTMENTS TO NORTHERNMOST AND SOUTHERNMOST
ZONES.

SCA REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR OUR COASTAL WATERS.

GOODMAN

.PHI...
DE...NONE.
MD...NONE.
NJ...NONE.
PA...NONE.
MARINE...SCA NJ/DE COASTS AND DE BAY.

GOODMAN

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 14, 11:23 AM EST, 2 hours 22 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY, NJ
1223 PM EDT TUE MAY 14 2002

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0420 PM    EARLEVILLE                MD   TORNADO
05/13/02   CECIL                          *** 0 DEAD, 0 INJ ***
                                          TORNADO. RATED F1 WITH
                                          MAXIMUM WINDS OF 110 MPH.
                                          DAMAGE PATH WAS 4 MILES
                                          LONG AND 70 YARDS WIDE.
                                          TORNADO WAS ON THE GROUND
                                          FOR 5 MINUTES. BARN AND
                                          CINDERBLOCK SHED DESTROYED.
                                          NUMEROUS TREES DOWN.

GSS

The radar

The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 79 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:49 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Montgomery

When: May 14, 1:45 PM EST to 2:30 PM EST
Where: Montgomery County, North Wales
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 40.217, -75.267

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

Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Pennsylvania, May 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: 5300108.