A large tree took down power lines and blocked the entire width of Meridian Road about 200 feet south of the intersection of Beacon Road in Penn Township on Monday evening as a thunderstorm and high winds buffeted the area. Several homes in the vicinity were without power after the incident.

A storm front packing strong winds and ominous dark clouds howled across southern Butler County on Monday evening, leaving behind a few broken trees and branches, downed wires and scattered power outages but no reports of severe damage.

In Penn Township, the storm toppled a large tree and power lines that blocked Meridian Road about 200 feet south of the intersection of Beacon Road. Several homes in the vicinity were without power after the incident.

Electrical crews were responding later Monday to reports of scattered outages affecting about 1,500 of the 82,000 electric customers across Butler County, according to FirstEnergy. By 9:30 p.m., service had been restored to all but 578 customers, the utility said. It projected the last repairs would be done by 1 a.m. Tuesday.

A Butler County 911 Call Center dispatcher said most of the evening's calls were routine for storm damage.