More storms pelt Pittsburgh area with rain, wind, hail
Jun. 13—A line of thunderstorms clogged roadway drains, downed trees and left standing water on roadways throughout the region on Sunday.
The weather cleared for much of the day until about 6 p.m., when more storms blew through, bringing with it more rain, wind and hail that pelted Pittsburgh and its northern suburbs.
There were widespread reports of trees down and and nearly an inch of rain fell in 15 minutes in Marshall Township, National Weather service meteorologist Lee Hendricks said.
Saline Street in Pittsburgh's Greenfield neighborhood was flooded, according to Tribune-Review reporter Joanne Harrop.
Mayor Bill Peduto also mentioned the storm on Twitter.
By 7 p.m., "the worst of it," was over, he said.
Pittsburgh's Forestry Division was ready to begin cleanup and it advised people to report downed trees to 911.
A cold front that moved into hot, muggy air that's been covering the area is to blame, Hendricks said.
In the morning, a portion of Route 356 had to be closed Sunday morning near its intersection with Route 56 in Allegheny Township, after rising flood waters caused several vehicles to become stranded.
No one was injured, according to a Westmoreland County 911 supervisor.
Emergency officials said a clogged drain forced a section of the road, roughly between the Route 56 intersection and Shearsburg Road, to be closed for more than an hour, reopening around 9:30 a.m.
Emergency crews also responded to the intersection of Routes 66 and 819 in Washington Township, shortly before 8:30 a.m. for a report of road flooding. Additional storm-related damage including residential flooding in Avonmore and Lower Burrell, as well as a number of downed trees, was reported throughout the region.
The morning storm was a heavy straight-line storm front began moving through western Pennsylvania around 6 a.m., NWS Meterologist Jenna Lake said.
"What we had this morning is an outflow boundary of cold air that congregates in front of the storm cell," Lake said. "That cold air intersects with the warm air downstream, and you can get some additional up-drafts. These storms had some of those up-drafts, but they don't have the heavy winds that may be coming with the storms later today."
Patrick Varine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Patrick at 724-850-2862, pvarine@triblive.com or via Twitter .
