The severe storm that ripped through the region Thursday afternoon downing trees, utility poles and power lines throughout the region, left some 11,000 customers still without power late Thursday night.
Duquesne Light Co. reported about 6,000 customers were without power in Allegheny County and as of 9 p.m., and another 600 customers still without power in Beaver County. Pittsburgh experienced the bulk of the customer outages with 4,430 customers in the dark, while Monroeville had 530 and Oakmont had 116.
There were about 375 reported outages as of 9 p.m. scattered throughout the two counties, according to Duquesne Light Co.’s power outage map.
Duquesne Light said that its crews have responded to the power outages and they are assessing damage to determine restoration priorities and estimated times of service restoration.
At the peak of the storm, the Pittsburgh-based utility said that more than 40,000 customers were without power, and crews have already restored service to about 33,000 of those customers.
High wind gusts exceeding 50 mph brought down trees, power lines and utility poles across the area, Duquesne Light said. The company is monitoring conditions closely and is preparing for the potential for additional severe weather on Friday.
West Penn Power Co. in Greensburg said that it had about 5,440 customers without power in the region as of 9:30 p.m.
There were about 680 without power in Westmoreland County, 1,110 in Armstrong County; 500 in Butler; 600 in Indiana County; 730 in the Pittsburgh area and 1,900 customers in Washington County.
Power should be restored by about 2:30 a.m. Friday, First Energy stated on its outage map.
The storm left a large area of downed trees and power lines throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania, said Colton Milcarek, a meterologist with the National Weather Service in Moon Township.
Wind gusts up to 53 mph were recorded at Pittsburgh International Airport, Milcarek said.
No additional storms were forecast for the region for the rest of Thursday night.
The National Weather Service’s study of weather models for Friday indicates less of a likelihood that storms will impact the Pittsburgh area, but it may hit the ridges along the Laurel Highlands, said Matt Brudy, a NWS meteorologist.