BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Powerful storms rocked the Lehigh Valley on Wednesday, with damaging winds ripping down trees and power lines across the region.
Gusts neared 50 mph at the height of the storm at Lehigh Valley International Airport, according to data from the National Weather Service.
At 10 a.m. Thursday, thousands remained without power across the area — including about 13,000 PPL customers across Lehigh and Northampton counties, along with more than 14,000 customers under Met-Ed.
About half of the PPL outages were in the Bethlehem area, with Easton and its suburbs hardest hit in Met-Ed territory.
In an update, PPL said crews saw significant damage from downed trees and limbs that caused more than 1,000 individual damage locations. Since the storm, it has restored power for more than 85,000 customers.
"We understand how important accurate restoration times are, so we do our best to provide accurate information as soon as possible," the update said.
"There are several steps we take, first we assess the damage to major infrastructure on the electric grid and then give our best estimate on when we’ll restore large regions. Visit pplelectric.com/storm for the latest updates on power restoration efforts and important safety information."
PPL said it has hundreds of personnel responding to the storm, providing both field-based and back-office emergency response operations across its service territory.
In preparation for the storm, it brought in more than 600 workers from outside the company to assist in restoration efforts. The updated number was 200 above what the company initially said it had pulled in to help.
Some customers got automated calls from PPL that said damage to the power grid could push restoration to 3 p.m. Friday in some areas, including hard hit locations on the east side of Allentown.
Weather clears as cleanup begins
Nearing 7 p.m. Wednesday, the weather service warned of storms bearing down on the region with winds topping 60 mph coming out of central Pennsylvania.
Large hail, lightning and heavy rain accompanied the storm, with more than a half-inch of rain falling in just a few minutes as the storm barreled through.
While straight line winds are the suspected cause of much of the damage, the weather service said it will conduct a preliminary storm survey for an area near Kidder Township in Carbon County.
A final assessment, including results of the survey, are expected to be completed and transmitted via a public information statement later Thursday.
As cleanup gets underway, temperatures are expected to return to more seasonal levels, topping off in the mid- to upper-80s.
Surface dew points are expected to fall into the upper 50s/near 60 during the afternoon, as well, the weather service said.
After a cold front clears the region, skies will become mostly sunny making for a pleasant afternoon.
It's also expected to be pleasant on Friday with seasonably warm temperatures.