Thousands of homes in Butler County were without power Sunday after high winds blew down trees, limbs and power lines.

Wind speeds of 46 mph were recorded in the mid afternoon at the Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport in Penn Township.

But wind gusts in other parts of the county likely reached between 55 and 60 mph, said meteorologist Jason Frazier of the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh.

West Penn Power Co. reported that 6,491 customers in the county had no electricity as of 7:10 p.m. The outages were spread across the entire county.

Service was also out for numerous West Penn Power customers in surrounding counties, with the most in Clarion with 7,501 customers affected, according to the company's website.

Around the same time, there were 577 Central Electric Cooperative members without power in the county. In all, 8,482 members — representing about one-third of the company's membership — had no service.

The lion's share of the Central Electric outages, or 2,546, were in Venango County, followed by 1,969 in Forest County and 1,902 in Clarion, the company's website said.

A number of roads in Butler County were also closed or affected due to fallen trees. About a one mile portion of Sarver Road in Winfield Township was shut down shortly after 3:15 p.m. when two huge dead trees were uprooted.

The trees came down onto power lines, severing a utility pole and downing wires. Both trees blocked both lanes.

The Butler County Communications Center dispatched emergency crews between 3:50 and 4:55 p.m. for downed trees on Route 38 in Oakland Township; Windy Point Road in Marion Township; Reibold Road in Forward Township; and Daubenspeck Road in Parker Township.

Additionally, downed trees were reported on Route 19 in Jackson Township; Old Route 422 in Clearfield Township; on Three Degree and Brownsdale roads in Penn Township; and College Drive in Butler Township.

A fallen tree and low-hanging wires on Route 8 a little south of the Old Stone House in Brady Township closed a portion of the highway for about four hours between 3 and 7 p.m., said Ryan Hanchosky, chief of the Slippery Rock Volunteer Fire Company.

A West Penn Power crew had to bring in a bucket truck to help repair the damage and remedy the problem.

In Parker Township, a downed tree got twisted up in telephone and cable wires, closing the 700 block of Parker Pike, said Eric Feicht, chief of the Bruin Volunteer Fire Department.

On that same block, winds damaged a portion of siding at the Dollar General store. Most of Parker Township and Bruin were also without electricity, he said.

“We're on emergency power at the fire station,” Feicht noted about 8:30 p.m.

The weather service had issued a severe thunderstorm warning and a wind advisory for Western Pennsylvania including Butler County between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Gusts first hit the western part of the county about 2:40 p.m., Frazier said, with the strong winds reaching across the entire county by 3:15 p.m.

“It was a very short window and very fast moving,” he said. By 4 p.m., the worst was over, though gusty winds still lingered.

Sustained winds of between 25 and 35 mph were forecast overnight, tapering to the lower end by around daybreak.

Mostly cloudy skies are expected through mid-Monday morning, then gradual clearing, with a high near 44. West winds of 11 to 14 mph are predicted with gusts as high as 29 mph.

There is a chance of snow after 1 a.m. Tuesday, mixing with rain after 2 a.m., according to the weather service. The chance of precipitation is 30%, with little or no snow accumulation expected.

A chance of rain and snow showers is forecast before 10 a.m. Tuesday, then a chance of rain showers between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.