About 260,000 West Penn Power and Duquesne Light customers in the Pittsburgh region were without power Friday night after high winds blew through the area Friday afternoon.
As of 9 p.m., Duquesne Light reported about 151,000 outages in Allegheny County and 16,000 in Beaver County.
West Penn Power reported roughly 26,500 outages in Washington, 26,300 in Westmoreland, 20,700 in Allegheny, 13,800 in Butler, 6,600 in Armstrong and 3,190 in Beaver counties.
Downed trees and power lines were reported across Westmoreland and Allegheny counties.
The weather service issued a high wind advisory for the region until midnight Friday.
Allegheny County Emergency Services advised people to secure loose outdoor items, use caution while driving and be alert for downed trees or power lines. People should not call 911 to report outages.
In addition to downed wires all over the region, numerous brush fires broke out, many caused by the downed wires.
Maximum wind gusts of 59 mph were reported at Pittsburgh International Airport and at Allegheny County Airport in West Mifflin between 5 and 6 p.m., said Chris Leonardi, meteorologist with the National Weather Service Pittsburgh office in Moon Township.
Gusts reached 60 mph at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport near Latrobe, he said.
“It’s definitely widespread,” Leonardi said. “Sixty to 70 mph is being captured in eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania.”
Highest winds elsewhere included 56 mph at the Washington County Airport, 52 mph recorded at the Butler County Airport, 47 mph in Beaver Falls and 43 mph in Apollo, according to the weather service.
Duquesne Light officials said the company had extra crews responding to outages as quickly as possible. Response times in some instances might be delayed because of the high winds.
West Penn Power spokeswoman 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 a bucket truck for power outage remediation when wind speeds are higher than 40 mph, Siburkis said.
The higher than usual winds were caused by a low pressure system moving into the area from across the Great Lakes, said Liana Lupo, weather service meteorologist.
Winds were expected to reach between 30 and 35 mph overnight and 20 to 25 mph on Saturday. Gusts could pick back up to between 30 and 35 mph on Sunday afternoon, she said.
Temperatures on Saturday will rise from 32 in the morning to the mid- to upper 40s.
Light snowshowers are forecast for Sunday, Lupo said, but they will not result in measurable snowfall. Temperatures could reach into the 60s Sunday afternoon before a cold front moves through Pittsburgh on Monday, dropping temperatures back down to the 30s.