Winds take down trees in Philly region and cause airport delays; gusts due to persist into early Saturday

The atmosphere often has been called an ocean of air. On Friday, it certainly sounded like one.

Gusts up to 64 mph roared through the region during the afternoon and strong winds continued well into the night in what meteorologists described as a highly unusual siege of winds that seemed to wander in from another season.

A high-wind advisory was in effect until 4 a.m. Saturday, and the National Weather Service posted a storm warning for the Jersey Shore in effect until 6 a.m., advising mariners that terra firma would be the wiser option.

A 64 mph gust was recorded at Atlantic City, and one of 58 mph near Philadelphia International Airport.

At the airport itself, 79 departing and arriving flights were delayed Friday, said spokesperson Heather Redfern. Because of the winds, inbound planes had been held at their airport of origin until 7 p.m., but she said planes were departing close to schedule.

Sustained winds of 25 mph from the northwest would be interspersed with powerful gusts perhaps until midnight, said Jonathan O’Brien, a meteorologist at the weather service office in Mount Holly, before backing off early Saturday.

Gusts in the 55- to 60-mph range aren’t all that unusual this time of year — but ordinarily they occur in thunderstorms, such as the one that served windy hors d’oeuvres to parts of the region Thursday night. Friday’s winds evoked another season.

» READ MORE: Potent March winds roar into Philly region, with outages and 50 mph gusts possible

“It’s almost a wintertime situation,” said Tom Kines, a meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc. in State College. As often happens in winter, deep low pressure was centered near the New England coast, and strong high pressure, with heavier air, was building in from the west.

The pressure contrasts between the heavier and lighter air were what were shaking the daylights out of all those suddenly leaf-filled trees. Those leaves were making branches more vulnerable by increasing their weight and impeding air flow, contributing to the power-outage potential.

“Leafed-out trees do act more like a sail and are easier to topple in heavy winds,” said Ryan Reed, a program specialist with the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation & Natural Resources. The branches also carry significant water weight. “A large tree can carry in excess of 1,000 pounds of leaves during the growing season,” he said.

Peco reported about 14,000 outages Friday, said spokesperson Tom Brubaker, and the National Weather Service posted several wind-damage reports, including downed trees blocking traffic. One barricaded the Route 3 exit ramp to Route 202 in West Goshen Township, another crashed onto westbound lanes of the MacDade Boulevard near the Blue Route in Delaware County, and one closed a southbound lane of the Garden State Parkway north of Atlantic City.

Giving the surface winds an extra jolt were near-hurricane force gales about 6,000 feet up, said Kines. “If you’re taking a flight from Cleveland to Philly, you would be there in the blink of an eye,” he said.

With the atmosphere so unstable, thanks in part to heating from Friday’s sporadic sunshine, some of those winds mixed down to ground level.

After the gusts lose bluster, highs during the day will be in the mid-60s, and head back toward 80 Sunday. Showers are possible Monday through Thursday, and any rains would be welcomed by pollen sufferers.

» READ MORE: We’ve been waiting for a week like this in Philly; so have the tree pollen. With June-like temperatures expect a pollen harvest.

Along with utility customers, the winds aren’t kind to those suffering from tree-pollen allergies, and on Friday, the reproductive pollen grains appeared to be in full flight. Levels were “very high” Friday morning, according to the Asthma Center.

And given the winds, it’s entirely possible that some of those pollen grains from trees around Philly are going to be spending the weekend at the Shore.