News

Damage, power outages result from line of strong storms

FOX CHAPEL, Pa. — A line of strong thunderstorms late Wednesday afternoon resulted in damage and power outages across the Channel 11 News viewing area.

Severe Weather Team 11 Chief Meteorologist Stephen Cropper said that conditions got "a little rowdy" with heavy rain, lightning and wind gusts of around 40 mph. However, things did not get severe enough for any advisories to be issued.

Channel 11's Julie Fine reported that the storms caused a tree in Fox Chapel to fall, taking wires down with it. The wires then burst into flames, charring a guardrail on Old Mill Road.

Old Mill was closed so that crews could cut the tree, secure the guardrail and work to restore power to 30 nearby homes.

Elsewhere, on Elway Avenue in Elizabeth Township, a fire was instigated when lightning struck an unoccupied trailer. Live wires were downed, but there were no reported injuries.

The turbulent weather was produced by the front edge of the system. The back edge moved through Wednesday night. It produced more rain, but no storms.

As Cropper predicted, temperatures plunged behind the front with near-freezing conditions overnight.

Thursday gets off to a cold start with a mix of clouds and sunshine throughout the day. A few showers might pop up, mainly in the late afternoon and evening. The high temperature will rise into the upper-50s.

Friday will bring plenty of sunshine and milder temps, setting up a dry start to the weekend in advance of a few showers on Sunday.