WICKED WEATHER IN THE FORECAST
Winter storm advisory issued for 10 a.m.-4 p.m. today
With more wet and icy weather in the forecast for the start of the work week, utility crews are hoping to restore electricity to homes and schools that were left in the dark by last week’s storm.
As of Sunday morning, 174,000 utility customers were without power in southeast Michigan, according to DTE Energy. Service has been restored to about 450,000 homes and businesses since the storm struck last Wednesday.
Crews had planned to work throughout the day to have all the power restored by the end of Sunday.
“Field crews will also be focused on restoring power to the area’s K-12 schools (Sunday) so that classes can resume in the morning,” DTE said in a Sunday morning update.
Many schools throughout the Detroit area cancelled classes for the last half of the week due to the storm, which covered power lines with a coating of ice. Some schools were already off due to a week-long mid-winter break. DTE says thousands of wires gave way to the ice, leaving about 600,000 customers in the dark.
Meanwhile, the National Weather Service has issued a weather advisory for southeast Michigan from 10 a. m. to 4 p.m. today as rain and icy road conditions could make it difficult to travel for motorists.
The National Weather Service says there is a chance of snow during the morning commute. After 10 a.m., snow and freezing arrives, switching over to rain after 1 p.m. Little or no ice accumulation is expected, but less than inch of snow is possible.
Today’s high will be near 41, with winds out of the southeast about 15 mph.
Look for high winds tonight, becoming 20-25 mph after midnight, gusting near 40 mph.
Temps could hit 50 and above on Tuesday, according to the weather service.