Gusty northwest winds that reached around 50 mph occurred during the afternoon across Eastern Pennsylvania. The combination of the wind, leaves still on the trees, heavy wet snow in the Poconos and parts of the Philadelphia northwest suburbs caused numerous power outages. Even in areas that did not have snow, power outages occurred.
Pennsylvania Power and Light whose service area includes the Poconos reported outages to 80,000 of its customers. Power was not fully restored until the 30th. Several roads in the Poconos were blocked because of downed trees and an emergency shelter was opened in Coolbaugh Township (Monroe County). In Berks County, about 4,300 homes and businesses lost power. Power was not restored until the morning of the 29th. Power outages were reported in Womelsdorf, Sinking Spring, Wyomissing, Caernarvon, Heidelberg, Longswamp and Spring Townships. In Womelsdorf, a downed tree fell into a home. A two foot diameter tree took down power lines. Pennsylvania State Route 419 was closed for three hours.
In the Lehigh Valley, the strong winds toppled a favorite evergreen tree near the borough hall in Hellertown (Northampton County). A linden tree also crushed a bench. In the Philadelphia northwest suburbs, Bucks County (about 10,000) took the brunt of the power outages because of the combination of wind and snow on trees that still had leaves. Outages were reported in Warminster, Northampton, Bristol, Langhorne and Middletown Townships. In Chester County, a large tree was blown across Charlestown Road in Phoenixville. Bus routes were changed because of the downed trees. In Philadelphia, part of Temple University closed because of power outages.
Peak wind gusts included 54 mph in Reading (Berks County), 51 mph in Coatesville (Chester County), 50 mph in West Grove (Chester County), 48 mph in Forks Township (Northampton County), 44 mph in Wings Field (Montgomery County), 43 mph at the Lehigh Valley International Airport, Northeast Philadelphia Airport and Mount Pocono (Monroe County) and 40 mph at the Philadelphia International Airport. The peak wind gusts occurred during the late afternoon on the 28th as the pressure gradient (difference) tightened quickly between the departing and intensifying low pressure system moving into New England and a high pressure system moving east from the central United States.
A low pressure system developed on the stalled front over North Carolina on the afternoon of the 27th. It slowly moved northeast and intensified rapidly. By 2 a.m. EDT on the 28th it was just off the New Jersey Coast and had a central pressure of 1003 millibars. At 8 a.m. EDT on the 28th, the low pressure system was approaching central Long Island, New York and the pressure lowered to 995 millibars. It proceeded to move northeast and was a 989 millibar low pressure system near Hartford, Connecticut at 2 p.m. EDT on the 28th and a 986 millibar low pressure system along the northern Vermont and New Hampshire border at 8 p.m. EDT on the 28th. By evening this low pressure system was far enough away that winds decreased.

Strong Wind in BERKS, PENNSYLVANIA
From 28-OCT-08 11:00:00 to 28-OCT-08 19:00:00 (EST-5)
Magnitude: 47.00 MG
Property damage: 25.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: ASOS

Strong Wind in BUCKS, PENNSYLVANIA
From 28-OCT-08 11:00:00 to 28-OCT-08 19:00:00 (EST-5)
Magnitude: 40.00 EG
Property damage: 50.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Newspaper

Strong Wind in CARBON, PENNSYLVANIA
From 28-OCT-08 11:00:00 to 28-OCT-08 19:00:00 (EST-5)
Magnitude: 40.00 EG
Property damage: 50.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Newspaper

Strong Wind in MONROE, PENNSYLVANIA
From 28-OCT-08 11:00:00 to 28-OCT-08 19:00:00 (EST-5)
Magnitude: 40.00 EG
Property damage: 50.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Newspaper

Strong Wind in CHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA
From 28-OCT-08 11:00:00 to 28-OCT-08 19:00:00 (EST-5)
Magnitude: 44.00 MG
Property damage: 5.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

Strong Wind in DELAWARE, PENNSYLVANIA
From 28-OCT-08 11:00:00 to 28-OCT-08 19:00:00 (EST-5)
Magnitude: 40.00 EG
Property damage: 1.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Newspaper

Strong Wind in LEHIGH, PENNSYLVANIA
From 28-OCT-08 11:00:00 to 28-OCT-08 19:00:00 (EST-5)
Magnitude: 40.00 EG
Property damage: 1.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Newspaper

Strong Wind in MONTGOMERY, PENNSYLVANIA
From 28-OCT-08 11:00:00 to 28-OCT-08 19:00:00 (EST-5)
Magnitude: 40.00 EG
Property damage: 1.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Newspaper

Strong Wind in PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
From 28-OCT-08 11:00:00 to 28-OCT-08 19:00:00 (EST-5)
Magnitude: 40.00 EG
Property damage: 1.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Newspaper

Strong Wind in NORTHAMPTON, PENNSYLVANIA
From 28-OCT-08 11:00:00 to 28-OCT-08 19:00:00 (EST-5)
Magnitude: 42.00 MG
Property damage: 5.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet