A cluster of storms Wednesday night dropped 2 inches of rain in parts of the Pittsburgh area, further saturating a wet start to September after residents waded through the region’s rainiest August in more than a century.
No injuries were reported in connection with the storm. The National Weather Service issued the first of its eight severe thunderstorm warnings around 6 p.m.
Less than 2,000 Duquesne Light customers were without power Thursday morning, the company’s outage maps showed.
West Penn Power “is operating normally,” with just 600 of its 740,000 customers in southwestern Pennsylvania without service, spokeswoman Bridget McNie said Thursday morning. About 353 of the 600-customer total lost power “related to last evening’s weather.
“Those weather-related outages are our top priority this morning, and crews are working as quickly and safely as possible to restore service.”
No severe weather is forecast for Friday.
Most of Allegheny and Westmoreland counties got about an inch of rain through Thursday morning, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Brudy, who is based in Moon. Some northwestern Allegheny County towns — namely Franklin Park and Moon — reported twice that total.
The storm dumped the largest amount of rain — around 2½ inches — in the West Virginia panhandle.
The rainfall brings September’s current tally at Pittsburgh International Airport in Findlay to 3.55 inches, more than 2½ inches above average, Brody said.
Nearly 8 inches of rain hit Pittsburgh in August, the most the weather service has reported since it started keeping records in 1871.
The weather service also issued three tornado warnings in the region Wednesday, Brudy said. Only one — in south-central Beaver County — was issued in Pennsylvania. No tornadoes were reported.
The storm’s impact on infrastructure appeared minimal Thursday morning. There were “sporadic” reports of downed trees and power lines in the East Liverpool, Ohio area, Brudy said.
Multiple vehicles got stuck in water — but nobody was injured — during flash flooding along McKnight Road in McCandless, Brudy and McCandless police said.
Pittsburgh residents might see some rain showers Friday, with the chance of scattered storms growing to about 70% by Saturday afternoon, Brudy said. Highs this weekend will range from the upper 70s to low 80s.
“The muggiest-feeling day will be Saturday, when the dew point is in the low- to mid-70s,” Brudy said. “That’ll make it a little sticky out.”
Wednesday’s storm paled in comparison to one that hit Pittsburgh last week, felling trees and knocking out power to thousands of homes.
“(Wednesday’s storm) didn’t have near the widespread severity or damage compared to a week ago,” Brudy said.