Severe storms remain a possibility as some remain without power

With the potential for severe storms brewing Monday afternoon, a National Weather Service meteorologist urged people to check on each other, especially those in areas still reeling from last week’s weather.

“We encourage folks to check on eachother and to keep eachother updated,” said David Shallenberger, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Moon office.

There’s a strong area of low pressure in the Upper Ohio River Valley that’s spurring the storms to flow from Southeast to Northwest, Shallenberger said.

Moisture in the atmosphere after 3 p.m. could bloom into severe storms withing the next two to four hours. The storms could produce more wind and hail and the possibility of a tornado the the extreme Northwest part of Pennsylvania, Shallenberger said.

This comes after a massive storm last week left three people dead, thousands without power and crews scrambling to respond to felled trees, downed power lines and damaged buildings.

Though more than 400,000 people lost power, most have since seen electricity restored.

As of around 5:30 a.m. Monday, Duquesne Light reported around 21,400 customers still without power, mostly in Allegheny County.

The utility company said Sunday that all customers should have power restored by 11 p.m. Tuesday, although many will see results quicker. Customers in Beaver County and the Allegheny County communities of Baldwin Borough, Clairton, Duquesne, Homestead, Jefferson Hills, McKeesport, Munhall, North Versailles, Pleasant Hills, West Homestead and West Mifflin should be restored by 12:30 p.m. Monday.

As of 5:30 a.m. Monday, First Energy reported fewer than 1,300 customers still in the dark.

Monday started dry but foggy, TribLive news partner WTAE reported, with showers expected to pass through the area later in the day. Most of the rain will likely come north and east of Pittsburgh.

WTAE predicted even less rain Tuesday, with the weather turning warm and dry for Mother’s Day weekend.

Julia Burdelski and Tom Davidson are TribLive staff writers. She can be reached at jburdelski@triblive.com. He can be reached at tdavidson@triblive.com.