Strong winds knock out power around Western Pa.; snow forecast for Friday

Sporadic power outages swept across Allegheny and Westmoreland counties Thursday night.

The outages and strong winds followed a cold front that brought with it heavy winds, rain and thunderstorms earlier in the evening.

Larger outages were reported by Duquesne Light in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood, Penn Hills and Plum. FirstEnergy reported a significant outage in the New Kensington area.

Duquesne Light reported only two customers in Economy and East Deer were still without power around 5:30 a.m. Friday.

West Penn Power reported about 40 Allegheny County customers without power, as well as nearly 100 without power in Washington County and 37 in Westmoreland County early Friday morning.

“We are still going to see some gusty winds tonight into tomorrow moving behind that cold front, but it shouldn’t be as strong,” said National Weather Service Pittsburgh meteorologist Bill Modzelewski.

Here are the maximum wind gusts so far this evening.

Thunderstorm chances will diminish in the next hour in the wake of the cold front. However, elevated winds aloft will still impact the ridges through tomorrow. A Wind Advisory continues through 12pm Friday. pic.twitter.com/AYr9F1FrFp

— NWS Pittsburgh (@NWSPittsburgh) January 20, 2023

The National Weather Service had issued a wind advisory through midnight, warning of sustained winds up to 25 to 35 miles per hour and gusts up to 50 miles per hour.

With the passage of the cold front, the temperature will fall and the rain will change to snow after midnight.

Snow is in the forecast off and on through the day Friday, but less than an inch of accumulation is expected, according to Modzelewski.

Snow showers are expected for the Friday morning commute, but Modzelewski said a rapid freeze is unlikely because the temperature will be around 35 degrees.

Friday’s high is forecast to be closer to normal in the mid-30s, while the low of around 30 is higher than the normal low of 21, Modzelewski said.

On Thursday night, the National Weather Service issued a special weather statement warning of heavy winds for all of Allegheny County and parts of Westmoreland. It expired at 9 p.m.

“We issued that special weather statement to highlight the hazard from the gusty wind, along with those showers that are moving through,” Modzelewski said.

The temperature Thursday afternoonrose close to 60 degrees, well above the normal average of 36 for the day but short of the record of 69 standing since 1907, he said.

[7:14pm] Here is a radar loop of the rain showers that are producing 40-50mph wind gusts in eastern Ohio.

Time of arrive for potential high gusts in the vicinity of Pittsburgh, PA is between 8-9pm. pic.twitter.com/AbD4Lcm2GD

— NWS Pittsburgh (@NWSPittsburgh) January 20, 2023