Well Blow Me Down!

Southeastern Pennsylvania was rocked by strong wind gusts, usually reserved for March, for hours-on-end Saturday afternoon and evening.  The end result was numerous reports of downed trees, power outages, and several dozen lost lawn ornaments.  Even at this late hour, at least 4,000 PECO residents are still without electricity in the Philadelphia metro area.  Peak wind gusts registered by area weather stations easily exceeded 40 mph in most areas, with some even above 50 mph.  Below are official peak wind gusts at observing sites from around the area on Saturday:

Observing Site	Peak Wind Gust
Philadelphia (International Airport)	55 mph
Northeast Philadelphia	51 mph
Allentown (International Airport)	50 mph
Willow Grove	47 mph
Reading	47 mph
Doylestown	47 mph
Allentown (Queen City Airport)	45 mph
Blue Bell	43 mph
Coatesville	41 mph
Pottstown	40 mph

So, what's the deal?  An area of low pressure, which dragged a cold front through the region earlier this morning, rapidly deepened today as it moved through Northern New England.  The corresponding difference in pressure, or gradient, between the deepening low and a high pressure moving east into the Ohio Valley led to the strong winds.  Short of giving you an exhaustive meteorology lesson -- many of the details I've probably forgotten since graduation -- know that a strong, or tight, pressure gradient = strong winds.  Luckily for those tired of swerving around road debris in their cars, the gradient is lessening, and wind speeds will be lower for Mother's Day.  However, as daytime heating commences with the pressure continuing to rise, stronger-than-normal wind gusts can be expected during the day on Sunday, but probably not to the tune of 50 mph again.

One thing you're also going to notice is the drastically cooler weather now that the cold front is history.  Hope you bought mom a sweatshirt or a new coat for Sunday as high temperatures across the area will struggle to reach the upper 50s, in fact we'll probably be in the 40s for much of the morning (breakfast in bed rather than a brunch out?).  A taste of Winter will come by nightfall, with temperatures plummeting into the 30s by early Monday morning.  There is even the potential for a hard freeze across the usually colder areas overnight Sunday, so keep mom's flowers inside.  Similarly cool weather can be expected for Monday and Monday night.

A special shout-out to the moms on their special day.  Maybe you'll get a Snuggie tomorrow.
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