The City of Ithaca faced harsh weather yesterday with gusts of winds up to 40 miles per hour. Gusts are not expected to continue today.

The wind was caused by a storm near the St. Lawrence River and caused sporadic power outages in nearby Broome County and structural damage in Pennsylvania, Brian Lovejoy, meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said.

Winds were expected to be highest over The Poconos, hilltops and mountains through late last night.

The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory to Southwest and Central New York, as well as Northeastern Pennsylvania, warning that damage to trees, power lines and weak structures would be possible in areas with heavy wind.

The wind affected students at the college in different ways.

When freshman Stephanie Bartzick stepped into her room in West Tower, she said she was shocked by the howling wind.

“I had to put on my earphones but it was still really loud,” she said. “I thought my window would burst out.”

Students in Environmental Sentinels, a class that spends time in the field, had to spend the day outside regardless of the weather.

Freshmen Andrew Morris said the weather was a distraction for his class.

“At one point we were standing in this area of the woods where the trees are skinny, so when big gusts of wind came in from the lake, whole trees would be hitting each other,” Morris said.

The record high for wind speeds in Ithaca is 55.5 miles per hour, which occurred once on March 25, 1991 and on Nov. 6, 2005, according to the Northeast Regional Climate Center.

For many students, this was a small taste of hectic Ithaca weather. Freshman Sam Bandes said he is not used to strong winds.

“The wind blew me away,” Bandes said. “There is nothing much else you can do but walk against it.”