Over 60K Without Power In Southeast Wisconsin, Winds Expected To Weaken

MILWAUKEE, WI — Tens of thousands of residents in southeast Wisconsin are without electricity on Thursday after Wednesday's hurricane-force winds knocked down power lines and uprooted trees.

A total of 63,335 residents are without power in southeast Wisconsin, the We Energies Outage Map showed. Nearly 50,000 outages are in the Milwaukee area.

Outages follow high winds up to 70 mph that occurred late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning. The National Weather Service gave a high wind advisory for Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee and Racine counties at 9 p.m. on Wednesday.

We Energies said in a statement that crews are working through the night to restore electricity to customers' homes, and that people should report their power outages and avoid downed power lines.

Customers who lost power in the Milwaukee area should call We Energies at 800-662-4797, use the free We Energies mobile app or file a report online if their power is out.

The high wind warning is still in effect for southeast Wisconsin until 9 a.m. on Thursday, but forecasters say winds should calm down from 25-30 mph to 15-20 mph in the afternoon.

Thursday's high temperature is expected to be 42 and forecasters say it's likely it will be mostly sunny throughout the day.

Friday will be partly sunny and have a high temperature of 36, with 5 mph winds going northeast in the afternoon.

Saturday has a chance of snow and freezing rain before noon, a chance of rain and snow between noon and 3 p.m. and a chance of snow after 3 p.m. The high temperature will be in the mid 30s and the chance of precipitation is 20 percent.

Here's a forecast into the weekend and the start of next week.

Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 42. Windy, with a west wind 25 to 30 mph decreasing to 15 to 20 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 45 mph.

Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 24. West wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph.

Friday: Partly sunny, with a high near 36. West wind around 5 mph becoming northeast in the afternoon.

Friday Night: A chance of snow before 5 a.m., then a chance of snow and freezing rain. Cloudy, with a low around 28. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30 percent.

Saturday: A slight chance of snow and freezing rain before noon, then a slight chance of rain and snow between noon and 3 p.m., then a slight chance of snow after 3 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 35. Northeast wind 5 to 15 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 20 percent.

Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 20. Northwest wind 5 to 15 mph.

Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 31. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon.

Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 25. Southwest wind 10 to 15 mph.

Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 39.

Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 26.