Super Soaker
Tuesday's torrential storms may have signaled the start of a continuing threat of severe weather.
“You can kind of feel it out there,” said Mike Kennedy of the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh. “There's quite a bit of instability.”
Kennedy said the instability in the weather patterns means any one of three conditions could occur at a given time: high winds, hail of varying sizes and possible tornadoes.
The warm, humid weather last week, Kennedy said, is a factor in the severity and longevity of this storm front, which could plague much of the northeastern U.S. for days, according to the NWS forecast.
Wednesday could be just as bad, if not worse, than Tuesday.
“We have some linear thunderstorm organization as well as some discrete supercells,” Kennedy said.
Thunderstorms and excessive rain brought down trees and power lines and flooded roads. Some parts of Butler County also saw hail.
A tornado watch, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings were all issued Tuesday.According to the forecast, showers and thunderstorms are likely Wednesday and Thursday, before the weather clears Friday.Areas in the southwestern portion of the county, like Zelienople and Harmony, experienced flooding.The forecast also says there is a 40 percent chance of storms returning Saturday and Sunday before clearing up again Monday.Kennedy said this type of weather is typical and expected this time of year, May showers and all.“We're going to be stuck in the pattern where there's a daily risk for severe thunderstorms,” he said. “Until we have a major shift in the large scale pattern, this is what we're most likely to see every day.”Todd Myers, West Penn Power spokesman, said the company has been aware of this storm potential.Most of Butler County saw scattered outages affecting around 100 customers as the storm began, according to West Penn Power's online outage tracker.At around 9:30 p.m., 3,381 county West Penn customers experienced outages at one time. Around 2,812 customers in Armstrong County also were out.<iframe width="100%" height="450" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6PDyQFdpEGg?rel=0&showinfo=0" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>Myers said the power company has its own forecasting team and center in Ohio that it relies on.“Really the entire state has this angry orange swath across it,” Myers said. “Over the next three days, the graphic looks exactly the same. It looks like a big, oblong oval that covers much of Ohio and Pennsylvania.”Myers said West Penn employees are used to the long hours that come with extreme storms. During such situations, he said, employees will work 16-hour days with eight hours off. The crews are staggered so there is someone working 24 hours a day until cleanup and restorations are complete.Myers said the company still prepares in much the same way it has in the past. He said West Penn has gone beyond informing employees of possibly longer hours, and has also contacted its contractors and tree trimmers who often assist at cleanup scenes.
“We're basically just caught in a pattern where we can expect the worst every day,” Myers said.Downed power lines can be especially dangerous for customers and the crews and need to be handled with care. Myers said customers should report downed power lines at 1-888-LIGHTSS (544-4877) or online at firstenergycorp.com.Crews will often need to wait until the power is turned off to begin work, and many times power will not be restored immediately after crews have finished.During these instances, Myers asks the customers for their patience, as a line or transformer elsewhere may need repair before the power can go back on.Myers said electric companies across the region are usually prepared for what the summer and winter months bring. He said they usually count on fall and spring to be easier periods, but Butler County has had a troubling year.“Around here these days, you feel like there's no break,” Myers said. “This just looks like it's going to be an unsettled period. Customers do need to get prepared.”Butler County joined most of the state as 64 of the 67 counties encountered similar weather warnings Tuesday.
