Strong winds are blamed for a death in Bucks County on yet another stormy Saturday

Strong winds that ripped down a large tree limb resulted in the death of one person in Bucks County, officials said, and for the third Saturday this month, potent storms pummeled parts of the Philadelphia region

Details about the fatal incident in the Southampton Township area were sparse, but the timing suggested that it occurred in advance of the approaching thunderstorms, said Robert Deal, the science and operations officer at the National Weather Service Office in Mount Holly.

The Bucks County Emergency Management Agency reported that it occurred at 6:12 p.m. The weather service attributed the death to “non-thunderstorm wind damage,” but Deal said it was not known just how strong the winds were.

“We feel bad for everyone involved,” said Deal.

The government’s Storm Prediction Center had the entire area under a severe-thunderstorm watch at the time. However, no storms that met the severe criteria — 58 mph and/or inch-diameter hail — were reported in Bucks, Philly, or any of its neighboring Pennsylvania Counties. Inch-diameter hail was observed in Camden and Burlington Counties.

» READ MORE: That was quite the tornado outbreak on April 1

While the storms did wring about some heavy, and much-needed rains, and stirred gusts past 50 mph, they weren’t quite in the league with what happened on the first Saturday of the month when nine tornadoes were verified in the Mount Holly service area, which extends from Delaware to North Jersey.

Nor did their rains match those in the Mount Laurel area on Saturday, April 15, when up to 3 feet of water pooled atop Larchmont Boulevard at Willow Turn, stranding at least one vehicle, and waters blocked lanes on Creek Road near Route 38.

» READ MORE: Lightning claimed a life on April 15, another stormy Saturday

In Chester County that day, lightning was blamed in the death of a Chester County motorist when a tree branch crashed atop a 2014 Kia Sportage SUV in Highland Township, killing the victim on impact.

The latest round of storms was associated with the approach of a strong cold front that heralded quite a change in April weather fortunes. Temperatures aren’t expected to get out of the 60s for the next several days, with chilly morning lows in the 40s and perhaps getting into the 30s away from the city.

In fact, said Alex Dodd, a lead meteorologist in Mount Holly, the pattern would be quite favorable to cold and snow if this were January, however, in late April it may do little more than put a temporary kibosh on outdoor dining.

For the record, the latest measurable snow occurred in Philadelphia on April 27, 1967, all of 0.1 inches.

» READ MORE: Making up can be hard to do: Weather may be a bigger player than ever in 2023 baseball season

Incidentally, as a precaution, the start time of the Phillies game against the Rockies was moved up an hour, to 3:05 p.m. This is what Major League Baseball calls a “final series,” since Colorado won’t return to Philly this season; thus, scheduling a makeup could get complicated.

It turned out to be a prudent decision.