According to weather experts, short bursts of rain brought down the high winds that caused power outages to more than 3,500 homes and businesses Saturday night during the peak of the storm.

“It didn't take much to bring that wind down to the surface, especially with that front down to the surface,” said Lee Hendricks, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh.

Between 3 p.m. Saturday and 12:14 a.m. Sunday, there were 31 calls for downed power lines.

As of 11 a.m. Sunday, about 105 First Energy customers in Butler County were without power still from the overnight storms. By press time, only 14 customers were still without service. First Energy has 84,361 in the county.

According to Brittany Al Dawood, a spokesperson for West Penn Power, there were about 3,500 customers affected during a peak of requests Saturday night.

“Those conditions that moved through resulted in downed trees and wires. There were broken poles and cross-arms,” Al Dawood said. “In most wind events that's going to be the issue.”

For Central Electric Co-op, about 11 customers were still without power as of 11 a.m. Sunday. By press time, those customers were restored. The company has 9,716 customers in the county.

In a statement Saturday night, the co-op reported as many as seven substations were down due to outages. The co-op estimated this affected about 10,000 total customers, though a total number of those in Butler County was not available.

“CEC thanks members for their continued patience during restoration efforts,” the statement said.

Hendricks said the ideal conditions presented in the form of a warm front, which brought temperatures in the 60s Saturday, followed closely by a “strong” cold front. He said the cold front came with high wind speeds that escalated higher in the air, which were brought down by scattered showers and thunderstorms throughout the region.

“When you have that strong temperature contrast on the frontal area, you're going to get some heavy winds,” Hendricks said.

According to weather service data, wind speeds in the county reached highs of 51 mph at the Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport; 43 mph near mile marker 100 on Interstate 79; and 33 mph at Moraine State Park.

Regionally, the service also logged highs of 43 mph in Grove City and 54 mph near Pittsburgh. Hendricks said most of these top speeds were in bursts, not in sustained winds.

“That could bring down trees or large branches,” he said. “Usually what will happen with the power lines is a tree will get knocked down into the power lines.”