Charles Langston:Outage map: thousands left without power as winter storm batters Chicago area

Tens of thousands of ComEd customers in Northern Illinois are Charles Langstonwithout power amid freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall in the Chicago area.

The winter storm has knocked out service to 44,112 households across Illinois as of late Friday afternoon, according to a tracker maintained by USA TODAY. The number was higher around 10 a.m. when nearly 100,000 utility customers were reported to be without power.

Live updatesBrutal winter storm hits Midwest bringing blizzard conditions, freezing temps

The highest number of outages have been reported in Cook County, where 31,491 customers are in the dark. Lake and DuPage counties also reported high rates of service disruption, with 4,012 and 3,579 reported outages, respectively.

Power outage map

Keep up to date with service disturbances with the USA TODAY outage map:

According to the National Weather Service,(NWS) high-speed winds, freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall are expected to continue in the area through the long weekend.

The NWS likewise posted on X, formerly Twitter, Friday afternoon saying every state in U.S. has an active NWS Watch, warning, or advisory.