UPDATE: Investigators headed to the line where Chester, Berks and Lehigh counties come together Wednesday to determine if a tornado touched down.
As temperatures pushed into the 80s Tuesday afternoon, funnel clouds hovered over parts of the Philadelphia region as the National Weather Service issued tornado warnings in areas north and west of the city and thunderstorm watches for much of the region as storms left hail and flooding.
The National Weather Service issued earlier tornado warnings for parts of Berks, Chester, Delaware Lehigh, Montgomery and Northampton counties that expired but not before reports of possible funnel clouds in the areas of West Chester, Trexlertown, Morgantown, Parkesburg and other areas in Pennsylvania and also reports of large hail -- more than 1 inch in diameter -- in Chester, Lehigh and Northampton counties. Whitehall Township in Lehigh County also declared a state of emergency due to storm damage that included at least one roof falling down.
A Severe Thunderstorm Watch covered Philadelphia and all points north and west in Pennsylvania as well as northern Delaware and western South Jersey through 8 p.m. Severe storm warnings ended at 4:30 p.m. A Severe Thunderstorm Warning was also issued for Philadelphia until 9:15 p.m. after heavy rain, wind and hail once again struck the area.
There was also flash flooding in Berks, Lehigh and Northampton counties. Flooding already submerged cars at SEPTA's Prospect Park Station in Delaware County and there were reports of flooding in Coplay, Lehigh County.
Thousands of customers lost power in the area with PPL Electric at one point reporting nearly 11,000 outages in Lehigh and Northampton counties and First Energy reporting more than 4,000 outages in Northampton County alone.
The weather also caused delays of more than 30 minutes at Philadelphia International Airport so check flight status before your flight.
The storm also forced Wawa Welcome America organizers to cancel a screening of Annie planned for Dilworth Park Tuesday night.
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A Flash Flood Watch remains in effect in areas north and west until 3 a.m. Showers and thunderstorms will move through the region overnight and some showers are possible Wednesday morning before conditions dry out. Another thunderstorm in the afternoon or evening is possible however.
If you are under a severe weather warning take cover as quickly as possible, ideally in a basement or interior of a building.
Stick with the NBC10 App and the NBC10 First Alert Weather Team for the latest on the potential nasty weather.
