DETROIT – DTE Energy said crews are working around the clock to restore power to around 295,000 customers in southeast Michigan.
DTE said it expected 200,000 customers to have power restored Friday.
UPDATE: DTE Energy: 75 percent of customers should have power restored by end of Friday
The restoration effort cannot happen quick enough as temperatures will not get above freezing this weekend, according to the Local 4Casters.
Several Metro Detroit communities have established warming centers -- view the list here.
"Given the sheer size of the (power outage), we expect the restoration to take multiple days," a DTE spokesman said Thursday.
The power company expects to have power restored to 90 percent of its customers by Sunday.
VIEW OUTAGE MAP: DTE power outages by ZIP code
DTE Energy announced Thursday the hardest hit county is Wayne County -- here's the county breakdown as of 2:25 p.m. Thursday:
- Wayne: 253,000 without power
- Washtenaw: 46,000 without power
- Oakland: 160,000 without power
- Macomb: 45,000 without power
- Livingtson: 36,000 without power
- Monroe: 15,000 without power
- St. Clair: 21,000 without power
Local 4Caster Brandon Roux said wind Friday will make it feel even colder outside. Here is his forecast for Friday and the weekend:
Temps are in the mid to upper 20s feeling like teens and low 20s as you head out early on this Friday. We may not see much warming today, even with sunshine present through most of the day. The winds will start picking up mid morning NW 10-20 mph and that means wind chills will be in the teens to single digits at times today. Bundle up! The winds will also promote lake enhanced clouds into the afternoon with a few flurries possible and on occasional light snow shower in our North Zone without much trouble.
We will wake up Saturday with a big chill as temps drop to teens and near single digits around parts of Metro Detroit. That means wind chills may be at or just below zero early tomorrow. Saturday sunshine only helps warm us into the upper 20s to near 30 degrees and winds WNW 5-15 mph.
Sunday will only be a hint warmer with teens in the morning and near 30 degrees again, but the winds will be a bit lighter helping the wind chill issue. Sunday sunshine to a mix of sun and clouds and very quiet to end the weekend around SE Lower Michigan and Southern Ontario.
Monday snow chances but the models are not in agreement on timing and location of the snow, so stay tuned as we get closer this weekend. You can always bring the Metro Detroit weather with you with our Local4Casters app.
Sign up for ClickOnDetroit breaking news alerts and email newsletters