Valley Forge Road in Upper Gwynedd was closed for several hours as workers cleared a fallen tree on Tuesday night, July 8, 2025. Photo by James Short.
Severe weather moved through the Philadelphia region during Tuesday’s evening commute, bringing powerful wind and rain, and more is on the way for Wednesday.
The National Weather Service’s Mount Holly, New Jersey office tracked between roughly a half-inch and 2 inches of rain across parts of Montgomery County, the downpour produced an influx of calls to the Montgomery County Department of Public Safety’s 911 dispatch center.
Circular winds in southeastern Berks County took off the top of this tree as a storm moved through the region on July 8, 2025. (Nancy March – MediaNews Group)Todd Stieritz, deputy director of public affairs for the county’s public safety department, said 659 calls were recorded from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, with 5-6 p.m. categorized as the “busiest hour” at 239 calls.
Incident reports included: 52 road obstructions, 31 vehicle crashes, 25 outdoor electrical fires, 13 disabled vehicles, seven hazardous road conditions, and six water rescues. Of those, five were called in from Lower Moreland Township and one in Pottstown, Stieritz said.
Valley Forge Road in Upper Gwynedd was closed for several hours as workers cleared a fallen tree on Tuesday night, July 8, 2025.
Downed trees litter the ground of a southeastern Berks County home as severe weather moved through the region on July 8, 2025. (Nancy March – MediaNews Group).Downed trees closed stretches of two western Montgomery County roads early Wednesday morning. Brad Rudolph, deputy communications director with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, identified the closures around 6:30 a.m. Keim Street, between Charlotte Street and Yerger Road in Lower Pottsgrove Township, had downed trees and wires. Manatawny Street, between Sell Road in West Pottsgrove Township to Glasgow Street in Pottstown also was closed. PennDOT officials anticipate the closures could continue through Wednesday.
A downed tree on the westbound Schuylkill Expressway closed the right lane at mile marker 330.5 in Upper Merion Township Tuesday evening, but has since been reopened, according to Rudolph.
A downed tree at the height of the storm shut down a stretch of an Upper Gwynedd Township thoroughfare for hours as Allentown Road at Green Street was impacted, according to township officials, taking to social media to post video of the giant tree.
Residents across the region experienced 1-inch hail falling from the sky. Several severe weather-related warnings were in effect as the squall moved through the region. A flash flood warning issued for east central Montgomery County expired at 10 p.m. Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. Severe thunderstorm warnings encompassed much of the area, with the National Weather Service spotlighting Collegeville, King of Prussia, Lansdale, Norristown, and Pottstown as areas of interest. A tornado warning was also in effect for part of Tuesday evening, with “wind gusts up to 70 mph,” according to the National Weather Service. Harleysville, King of Prussia, Lansdale, Norristown, and Willow Grove were among noted areas.
Tuesday’s storm knocked out power to 20,000 customers across the region, according to PECO spokesperson Greg Smore, which includes Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties, as well as parts of York and Lancaster counties. Around 2,000 households are still without power as of Wednesday morning, but Smore expected power restoration efforts are “aiming to get on today” ahead of “some additional severe weather” on Wednesday.
Around 1,680 Montgomery County residents were without power at 6:40 p.m. Tuesday due to the storm, according to outage reports. Around 240 customers in Montgomery County are still without power Wednesday, Smore said, identifying hotspots in Cheltenham and Pottstown.
“Storms will be capable of producing locally heavy rainfall, with rates potentially exceeding 2 inches per hour. This could lead to some areas of flash flooding, especially in urbanized, poor drainage areas, and in areas that have already experienced excessive rainfall over the past couple [of] days,” a National Weather Service “flash flooding and severe storms risk” briefing states.
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