A damaging storm did not bring a tornado to Bellefonte — did it bring another rare phenomenon?
An afternoon storm that tore through Bellefonte on Thursday likely wasn’t the result of a tornado — which a handful of residents discussed on social media — but it could’ve been the result of another rare weather phenomenon, according to meteorologists.
Both AccuWeather and the National Weather Service told the CDT there were no confirmed tornadoes in Centre County on Thursday. But Joe Murgo, chief meteorologist for WTAJ, said via Twitter that a “downburst of wind” was possible, and Alyson Hoegg, senior meteorologist for AccuWeather, acknowledged Friday to the CDT that was a distinct possibility.
The storm left flooded roadways and fallen trees in its wake, and more than 1,000 West Penn Power customers temporarily lost power. No injuries from the storm were reported, according to Jody Lair, deputy director for Centre County Emergency Services.
“It’s hard to say but, looking back at the radar, it looks like the storm could’ve produced a downburst right over the Bellefonte area,” Hoegg said. “And that would definitely cause wind gusts of 60-70 mph as it moves through Bellefonte and farther along, up through the valley toward Lamar.”
A “downburst,” powerful winds that descend from a thunderstorm before spreading out, occur a handful of times throughout Pennsylvania in a given year. (They’re more common in the Southeast U.S., Hoegg said.) It’s difficult to say for sure that’s exactly what happened Thursday, especially considering AccuWeather and the NWS don’t have observation capabilities in Bellefonte, but that possibility would help explain the extent of the storm’s damage.
According to multiple reports, the afternoon storm caused downed power poles and service lines, flooded roadways, power outages, fallen trees and at least two destroyed brick chimneys — which could’ve also occurred because of lightning, Hoegg said. It was difficult to speak in certainties since the nearest measuring devices reside at the University Park Airport, where gusts reached only 44 mph Thursday.
But, before the afternoon storm, NWS warned of gusts approaching 70 mph in and around Bellefonte and, based on the damage, Hoegg said anything between 50 and 70 mph was likely.
Downbursts can form when falling rain passes through drier air. According to Hoegg, multiple conditions — such as rising air and strong winds ahead of the storm — also need to align for the phenomenon to occur. Downbursts are even sometimes confused for tornadoes, as a downburst can mimic the speeds of a weaker tornado, meaning between 65 mph and 110 mph.
“The storm was intensifying as it moved north and east through the valley,” Hoegg added. “So while someone could have seen 40, 50, 60 mph winds, I would not rule out somewhere — whether it was Bellefonte or farther long in the storm path as it moved north and east toward Lamar — that could see wind gusts up to 70.”
There are not yet any cost estimates on the extent of Thursday’s damage, county officials said.
AccuWeather is projecting a partly sunny day Saturday for Bellefonte, with a high of 53 degrees and only a 3% chance of precipitation.
