Westmoreland County communities hit by "ferocious" downburst on Monday evening

Residents across Ligonier Borough and Ligonier Township were cleaning up Tuesday after a powerful storm tore through the area Monday evening, toppling trees, bringing down power lines, and causing extensive damage to properties.

No one was hurt in the storm, which ripped through the area around 6 p.m. on Monday, but the damage was seemingly everywhere, dotted throughout the borough and a small portion of Ligonier Township. Like many residents, Ligonier Valley Police Chief Michael Matrunics was out surveying the destruction.

"This has probably been the worst one we have seen for a while," Matrunics said. "So, obviously there was some type of major weather event that happened really, really condensed, and that's why you obviously see the damage that's here now."

The National Weather Service confirmed a downburst hit the area on Monday evening. The agency said a downburst is a powerful, localized downdraft of air from a cumulonimbus cloud that hits the ground and spreads out rapidly in all directions. It produces damaging straight-line winds that can be as strong as tornadoes.

Cathie Widich says that she and her husband were without power for about 12 hours, and while there is leaf and branch debris around their house, several big trees came down nearby. She says they are lucky.

"We were just sitting down to supper, and it pretty much came from out of nowhere," said Widich. "And it was ferocious. It was scary, and it was coming from the opposite direction than storms usually come from. So, we and everybody else were really surprised. It's a mess, but we're OK."

And while cleanup is ongoing in Ligonier, everyone KDKA-TV spoke with on Tuesday said they hope this is the last major storm event this year.