Saturday will not just be another windy day in Central PA, as the setup is perfect for some very high winds. The strong gusts could cause damage to trees and power lines, which may lead to scattered power outages. So why is this setup good for exceptionally strong winds?
First, there will be a very tight pressure gradient across the region as we get stuck in between a powerful low pressure system in the Canadian Maritimes and a strong high pressure system located in Central Canada. Big differences in pressure cause strong winds.
The tight pressure gradient happens frequently and gives us windy days, but there is an additional piece of the puzzle that comes into play for Saturday -- the way the winds above the surface are aligned. The jet stream will be sitting overtop of us on Saturday with winds whipping at better than 150 mph up around 30,000-40,000 feet. When those winds align with the winds at the surface, the stronger upper-level winds can enhance some of the gusts here at the surface. With winds being out of the west-northwest at pretty much all levels of the atmosphere on Saturday, that will push what would be an ordinarily windy day (with 40 MPH gusts) to a day where winds could gust as high as 60 MPH.
Also something to keep in mind -- with the air being very dry and the exposed brush and old leaves becoming dry, the threat for brushfires will rise into Saturday. The real threat is the added wind. Any brushfire that starts could spread quickly with those winds gusts of 45 to 60 MPH.
--Meteorologist Brian Thompson
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