Stormy Weather to Hit State College

Thunderstorms and summer seem to go hand in hand. So perhaps it’s no surprise that stormy weather is coming to the State College area again.

Over the next few days, there is going to be a humidity increase in State College. It won’t be exceptionally hot, but it will be very humid, especially Wednesday, says AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Tom Kines.

Coming with the humidity Tuesday afternoon, Kines says, could be scattered thunderstorms and rainfall. There’s a better chance of thunderstorms Wednesday, bringing with them a chance of heavy rain.

“I don’t think there’s going to be any severe weather with the thunderstorms tomorrow, but they could certainly bring a lot of rain with them,” Kines says.

The temperature this afternoon will be in the lower 80s. Because of the cloudiness, (Wednesday’s) temperature “might not even crack the 80s,” Kines says.

Kines says the humidity will decrease Thursday and Friday but will come back up over the weekend. That brings with it a chance of showers and thunderstorms.

“The main threat from these storms is heavy rain,” Kines says. “Certainly places of poor drainage have the possibility of flooding. If you live along a creek that frequently floods with heavy rain, there might be situation where you need to keep alert, but there won’t be widespread flooding.”

Many State College residents receive electricity from West Penn Power. Its parent company, First Energy, has two meteorologists on staff who constantly monitor the weather. If they see severe weather coming to a specific location, they send an internal report to make sure proper preparations can occur in advance, says West Penn Spokesman Todd Meyers.

The meteorologists recorded an “unsettled week” for the State College area, although it only seems to be on the edge of this weather. There is potential for wind gusts of up to 40 miles per hour, Meyers says.

Meyers says with any thunderstorm and wind, trees are the biggest problem. Branches have the potential to fall into power lines. In some cases, an entire tree will fall onto the line.

Although this week’s storms are not expected to produce much damage, in the case of severe weather, West Penn can send additional crews from the surrounding states to quickly repair broken lines.

For all residents who experience power outages, be sure to call 1-888-LIGHTSS to report the outage to West Penn. The more calls the company receives, the easier it will be for crews to target the source of the problem.

Meyers advises keeping one light switched on so residents can monitor when power returns. He says the rest of the electricity in the home should be turned off so there is no chance of a surge. Also, all residents should be sure to have flashlights and batteries on hand.

“This is the stuff we expect during the summertime,” Meyers said. “We’re not expecting it now, but there is help available. We’re ready for this storm, we’re ready for all storms.”

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