Swift thunderstorms leave mark on region
Baku, July 12 (AZERTAC). Heavy thunderstorms swept swiftly Monday through parts of Allegheny County, leaving behind a trail of felled trees, downed wires and thousands of people without electricity.
National Weather Service meteorologist Charlie Woodrum said winds were officially clocked at 49 mph in parts of Pittsburgh, which kept maintenance crews busy as they worked to keep streets clear of debris.
Mr. Woodrum attributed the afternoon storm to a thunderstorm complex that had formed in the Midwest before making its way toward southwestern Pennsylvania. A thunderstorm complex is a large, organized cluster of thunderstorms that, in this case, extended several hundred miles. The storm line had reached all the way back toward Chicago and western Michigan.
The complex eventually descended onto the Rust Belt, causing wind damage in parts of northern West Virginia, eastern Ohio and southwestern Pennsylvania, he said.
Radar estimates of 60 mph wind gusts were within range of typical severe thunderstorm status, which the National Weather Service assigns to storms with gusts that surpass 58 mph. The fast-moving wind meant very little ground got wet.
"When you have storms that move that fast ... it normally doesn`t add up to very much," Mr. Woodrum said. The National Weather Service recorded a quarter to a half-inch of rain across the region.
Although the storm lasted only about an hour, it sparked a flurry of calls to Allegheny County 911. A supervisor said that from 4:30 to 6 p.m., the dispatch center received a steady flow of calls for downed wires and fallen trees, although none were serious. One call was about a home in Bellevue that was set afire after lightning struck the attic.
The storm also caused significant power outages, ultimately leaving 9,000 without power, Duquesne Light Co. said in a news release. Churchill, Forest Hills, Penn Hills, Plum and Wilkins were among the hardest-hit areas.
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