Gusts up to 50 mph in the Philly region knocked out power to more than 16,000
The winds, a "little stronger" than expected, also evidently fanned brush fires, including one that scorched 50 acres in Salem County.
March’s reputation for windiness isn’t all bluster, the region learned Saturday.
Surprisingly strong winds knocked out power to more than 16,000 Peco customers in the Philly region on Saturday and evidently fanned some brush fires.
A gust of 51 mph was recorded in Kennett Square, Chester County, said Robert Deal, the science and operations officer at the National Weather Service office in Mount Holly. A gust of 48 mph was measured at Brandywine Regional Airport and one of 45 mph Philadelphia International Airport.
The gusts are due to call it a weekend by midmorning Sunday, but with morning temperatures in the 20s, wind chills may stay below 20 until the afternoon in the wake of the front that generated the potent winds. Sunday’s forecast high in the mid-30s would be 30 degrees lower than Saturday’s.
Saturday’s winds were a “little stronger” than expected, Deal said. The weather service had issued a statement earlier in the day calling for gusts to 40 mph, and warned that winds combined with rapidly drying air could result in brush fires.
Several brush fires were reported in Chester, Burlington, and Gloucester Counties, and one that broke out in Salem County burned about 50 acres in the area of Fort Mott Road in Pennsville Township. Sunday morning, Gloucester Township police declared under control a 40-acre brush fire that broke out around 9:30 p.m. Saturday in the area of Primose Lane that involved more than 100 firefighters and first responders from more than 20 state, county and local agencies. Two homes were evacuated but none were damaged, and no injuries were reported, police said.
The cold front that crashed through the region quickly routed a March 1 spring tease.
Temperatures rocketed to 64 earlier in the day and then nosedived to 40 by 6 p.m. in Philly, and just like that, wind chills were below freezing.
After two days of a January-level chill, forecasters say, with daytime readings mostly in the 30s and nights in the low and mid-20s, expect a warmup Tuesday and rain on Wednesday. While that may be annoying to Flower Show attendees, the region could use it.
As drought conditions persist in the region, rain has been scarce lately. Wind hasn’t been.
January and February featured more days with 40-mph gusts — nine — than any January-February combination of the last five years.
Jon Gottschalck, a chief forecaster at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, said that had to do with the consistent presence of high pressure, or heavier air, to the west, and lower pressures to the east. Heavier air naturally moves toward lighter air.
Chances are excellent that the region isn’t done with March winds. Statistically, it is the windiest month of the year, according to the weather service, with an average speed of 10.8 mph.