Just more than 82,600 West Penn Power and Duquesne Light customers in the Pittsburgh region are without power following high wind gusts throughout the area Friday afternoon.
About 10,800 West Penn Power customers and nearly 71,860 Duquesne Light customers were without power as of 6:30 p.m., according to the companies’ online outage trackers.
“We’re in the peak of it,” said Chris Leonardi, meteorologist for the National Weather Service office in Moon Township, just after 6:15 p.m. “Things will slowly diminish here after the sun goes down.”
Downed trees and power lines were reported countywide Friday afternoon in Westmoreland County, according to a 911 dispatcher. Similar conditions were reported in Allegheny County.
A maximum wind gust of 59 mph was reported at Pittsburgh International Airport and at the County Airport in West Mifflin between 5 and 6 p.m., said Chris Leonardi, meteorologist for the National Weather Service Pittsburgh office in Moon Township.
Gusts reached 60 mph at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe, he said.
“It’s definitely widespread,” Leonardi said. “Sixty to 70 mph is being captured in eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania.”
Duquesne Light officials said the company has extra crews to safely respond to outages as quickly as possible. Response times may be delayed because of the high winds.
West Penn Power spokesperson Lauren Siburkis said the company’s meteorologists are monitoring the conditions.
“Crews are positioned across our territory for a quick response,” Siburkis said. “This will be an all-hands effort — with support from contractor crews — and we will stagger crews to ensure 24/7 response to all outages that occur.”
West Penn Power’s crews aren’t able to operate bucket truck for power outage remediation when wind speeds are higher than 40 mph, Siburkis said.
The higher than usual winds, caused by a low pressure system moving into the area from across the Great Lakes, are expected to die down by Friday evening, said Liana Lupo, NWS meteorologist.
“The winds are going to start to ease gradually this weekend and into the overnight hours.”
Winds may reach between 30 and 35 mph overnight and 20 to 25 mph on Saturday. Gusts could pick back up between 30 and 35 mph on Sunday afternoon, she said.
Temperatures on Saturday will rise from 32 in the morning to mid to upper 40s.
Light snow showers are forecast for Sunday, Lupo said, but they will not result in measurable snowfall. In fact, temperatures could reach into the 60s Sunday afternoon before a cold front moves through Pittsburgh on Monday, dropping temperatures back down to the 30s.