No Let Up: 3-5 Inches Of Snow Expected Monday
DETROIT (CBS DETROIT) - A massive power outage that affected nearly 1 million DTE Energy customers in southeast Michigan will be given another layer of complexity; snow.
The First Forecast has cooler temperatures sticking around with 3-5 inches of snow expected through Tuesday. Some parts of Michigan may see as much as 6 inches of snow.
According to the National Weather Service snow could begin as early as 3 a.m. Monday with snowfall rates of less than .5" per hour.
Expect roads to be slippery and snow-covered as temps remain in the 20s throughout most of the day.
[Check DTE's power outage map] (updated every 30 minutes)
Dave Johnson, Vice President of Customer Service for DTE, spoke live on WWJ Newsradio 9850 and said crews are working around-the-clock to get people back online.
"Other than making sure that we're working on our infrastructure and and investing appropriately to ensure that we have a sound infrastructure, there's not a lot of other things that you can do when the weather is as bad as it was this past week," Johnson said.
DTE says crews have restored power to more than 755,000 of the 800,000 homes and businesses that went offline during the gale force winds that pounded the southeast Michigan area for 12 hours on Wednesday. The utility described it as a "once in a century weather event."
The high winds caused extensive tree damage, resulting in more than 9,000 reported downed power lines. Due to the unusually warm weather this winter, as well as significant rainfall, the ground is very soft and saturated. That, combined with the high winds, caused trees to uproot, falling onto poles and power lines.
DTE says it was the most significant weather event it has experienced in its more than 100-year history. Crews including more than 1,800 linemen and 700 contractors and workers from other states are working 16-hours shifts around the clock to restore power. DTE also has 700 tree trimmers working.
For the latest from the roads, stay with WWJ Newsradio 950 during Traffic and Weather on the 8s, 24-hours a day. Check for recent incidents now on the CBS Detroit Traffic Page.
