Thousands without power after severe storms, with another round on the way

• Thousands remain without power in the Lehigh Valley following severe storms Thursday
• Another round of severe weather is expected Friday
• Locally heavy rainfall could dominate our weekend weather

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Utilities reported thousands of customers without power early Friday after severe weather swept through the region Thursday night.

Forecasters say another round of storms is on the way.

As of 5 a.m. Friday, PPL Electric reported more than 800 customers without power in Lehigh County and 614 without power in Northampton County. Additionally, more than 2,000 customers were in the dark in Monroe County, according to the utility’s outage map.

According to the Met-Ed outage map, more than 4,000 people had no power in Berks County. Lehigh County had 65 customers out, while Northampton County had more than 1,700 customers affected.

The outages came after damaging winds tore through the area Thursday night, pulling down trees and power lines. After a severe thunderstorm watch expired at 9 p.m., damaging storms continued to pummel the area through midnight.

Severe weather on tap again

Another hot and humid day is expected Friday, with another risk of severe thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening.

“Today we have a cold front that’s going to be pretty much right over top of the region … it’s going to become the focus of scattered showers and thunderstorms,” EPAWA meteorologist Bobby Martrich said in his latest video forecast.

Martrich warned Friday’s weather “is going to feel like the same thing all over again,” but said coverage wouldn’t be as broad as Thursday’s storms.

Thursday "was just wild,” he said, while noting the boundary draped over the region will remain with us through the weekend.

“It’s going to stall out and just kind of sit there for a couple of days,” he said, flagging wet weather in the forecast Saturday and Sunday.

Martrich classified the next three days as “near daily chances for scattered showers and thunderstorms” but a dry slot is likely Saturday morning.

Locally heavy rainfall possible

According to the National Weather Service, temperatures are expected to be cooler Saturday, but it still will be humid as showers and storms roll through.

“The precipitable water values will be in the 1.5-2.0 inches range Saturday and therefore convection will produce locally heavy rain,” the latest NWS forecast discussion said.

The overall flash flooding risk should be limited, but locally heavy rain is possible again on Sunday.