News
Winter Weather Causes Power Outages And Slick Road Conditions
By: Atish Baidya
Posted on:
UPDATE 1:55 P.M. A commercial power outage in the Chillicothe area has forced WOUH-FM off the air temporarily.
American Electric Power reports downed trees in the area are effecting restoration efforts.
AEP estimates the power may not come back on until 11 p.m.
Outage maps show Ross County as the only Southeast Ohio county suffering outages at this time.
WOUB is working to restore the radio signal as soon as possible.
Severe wind and wintery weather has also caused a number of car accidents across roadways in the region.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol reports officers have responded to 16 accident in Fairfield County, 15 accidents in Licking County and 13 accidents in Athens County.
UPDATE: 12/21/12 2 9:26 a.m The first official day of winter brought with it slick road conditions and power outages to Southeast Ohio.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol said a portion of state route 33 between routes 180 and 664 was shut down Friday morning because of a winter weather-related accident.
The Athens Post of the OSHP said there have been at least a half a dozen accidents since 7 a.m.
Many of the thousands of American Electric Power customers left in the dark Thursday night have had their power restored by Friday morning but crews are still working to restore power to all effected customers.
According to the AEP Ohio outage map, more than 647 customers in Ross County are still without power.
According to the Appalachian Power outage map, hundreds of customers in West Virginia are also in the dark.
More than 223 customers in Lincoln County are without electricity.
Other counties in Ohio and West Virginia with power outages include:
Cabell (WV): 117
Fairfield: 115
Pike: 134
Roane (WV): 165
Vinton: 159
Wayne (WV): 166
The National Weather Service has placed much of Southeast Ohio under a winter weather advisory until 10 p.m. Friday.
The advisory indicated the cold front could bring between two and four inches of snow, along with winds gusting up to 45 mph.
UPDATE: 12/21/12 @ 7:30 a.m. American Electric Power company crews have restored power to thousands of customers in the Southeast Ohio region after a strong line of storms made its way through the area Thursday night.
According to the AEP Ohio outage map, more than 542 customers in Ross County are still without power.
Customers in parts of West Virginia are also without power.
More than 269 customers in Lincoln County are in the dark.
Other counties in Ohio and West Virginia with power outages include:
Cabell (WV): 127
Fairfield: 116
Jackson: 114
Pike: 165
Roane (WV): 165
Scioto: 100
Vinton: 159
The National Weather Service has placed much of Southeast Ohio under a winter weather advisory until 10 p.m. Friday.
The advisory indicated the cold front could bring between two and four inches of snow, along with winds gusting up to 45 mph.
A strong line of wind and stormy weather caused a number of power outages throughout Southeast Ohio Thursday night.
According to American Electric Power's outage map, more than 1,000 customers in Athens County were reporting power problems.
More than 2,700 customers in Lawrence County were in the dark during the severe wind and rain that fell ahead of a cold front.
Customers in Ross, Morgan, Scioto and Coshocton counties were also reporting outages to the company.
The National Weather Service has placed Athens, Meigs and Jackson counties under a winter weather advisory until 10 p.m. Friday.
The advisory indicated the cold front could bring between two and four inches of snow, along with winds gusting up to 50 mph.
Much of the region is under a wind advisory until 10 p.m. Friday.