More Severe Weather On the Way, Thousands Left in the Dark Tuesday Night

Don’t stash the umbrella just yet. Thursday could bring a storm that looks and feels a lot like the one on Tuesday night. 

A few scattered thunderstorms may pop up throughout Central Pennsylvania tonight. However, strong thunderstorms could move into out area on Thursday afternoon and into the early evening, says Tom Kines, a senior meteorologist at AccuWeather. 

“It’s tough to say when it’s this far out where exactly some of the stronger storms will hit tomorrow,” Kines says. “But the threat is higher tomorrow than it is today.”

Last night, about 2,300 customers lost power because of the strong winds, rain and lightning. Tom Kearney, area manager at West Penn Power, says any customers who lost power should have it back on by tonight at the latest, though some rural areas may have to wait until the early hours of Thursday morning. At 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, 92 customers were still without power. 

There was “nothing big,” Kearney says, adding that outages were scattered across Centre County, not occurring in large groups. Along East College Avenue, power went out at the College Township Building around 8 p.m. but was restored sometime between 10:30-11 p.m. Kearney says the outages were a result of direct lightning strikes on Orchard Road, between Beaver Stadium and Mount Nittany Medical Center. 

State College Police say there was no major damage in the area and despite the Spikes game being canceled once the rain started, spectators were able to safely leave the grounds.

For continuing updates and the latest forecast, click HERE for the latest from AccuWeather.