At least one tornado touched down in Delaware, the weather service says, and a second is under investigation
Philly may have caught a break from Monday's clouds and rain.
The National Weather Service Tuesday night confirmed that a tornado with winds of 100 mph had touched down in central Delaware on Monday night and said a survey team was investigating the possibility that another one caused wind damage in an area nearby.
The agency said the confirmed twister, an EF1 on the enhanced Fujita scale, struck Frederica, Del., in Kent County. In nearby Camden, Kent County, winds of 100 mph resulted in “extensive damage,” but it was unclear whether those winds were tornadic. Earlier, the weather service confirmed an EF-1 in Ridgely, on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
The weather service said it would release a detailed report later.
While no tornadoes were confirmed in Pennsylvania or New Jersey, strong winds did take down trees and wires across the region. A gust of 60 mph was measured in Philadelphia, the weather service said, and a 74 mph gust was reported in Avalon.
The downpours and very loud winds shut off during the early-morning hours as the region underwent yet another seasonal change, with temperatures tumbling from the 60s to the 30s.
“Winter’s back for a little while,” said Ray Martin, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mount Holly, and a moderating trend is due later in the week.
No further trauma is evident in the computer models, and the region evidently caught some luck Monday.
Clouds and rain actually were Philly’s allies Monday
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Storm Prediction Center hoisted tornado watches late Monday morning for the entire Philly region, all of Delaware, and most of New Jersey as the atmosphere was exhibiting unusual volatility.
But shortly after 6 p.m., the center took down the watches.
What didn’t happen?
Strong thunderstorms develop when the air is said to be unstable, allowing warm air to rise rapidly over cooler air and igniting convective storms. However, during the day Monday, on-and-off rain and clouds “just kind of stabilized” the atmosphere, Martin said.
Philly ended up with about a half inch of rain, and more than half of that fell by 9 a.m.
“With all those clouds and light rain around,” he said, severe weather “wasn’t going to happen.”
The stronger storms and gusts didn’t arrive until very late Monday night with the arrival of the squall line.
The outlook for the rest of the week for Philly
The next chance for rain would be during the weekend (of course), but by then temperatures should have moderated.
Temperatures the next two mornings are forecast to fall into the 20s, and spend most of Wednesday afternoon in the 30s. The highs are expected to return to the seasonal 50s on Thursday and Friday, and maybe the low 60s Saturday.
As for when winter is going to give it up, no big warm-up is imminent and some temperature jumpiness is likely to continue, Martin said.
“We had such a cold and relatively snowy winter,” he said, “it’s going to take a little bit to break out of that pattern.”