Power outages in York, Chester and Lancaster in windy, cold pre-Christmas winter storm
Thousands of customers were without electrical service Friday afternoon in York, Chester, and Lancaster counties in South Carolina as a winter storm with potentially dangerous cold moved into the area, according to officials and utility providers.
The outages came as the National Weather Service said temperatures Friday night were to drop close to single digits late Friday with wind chills expected to reach zero or below.
Duke Energy reported around 2,000 outages in the three counties after 2 p.m. There were a few hundred outages in York County mainly near Newport between Rock Hill and York, according to the utility’s outage map.
Outages included more than 1,000 in Chester County, and around 800 in mostly northern Lancaster County near the North Carolina border, the utility’s outage map showed.
York Electric Cooperative reported on its outage map just a few scattered outages in the early afternoon Friday.
The utility had restored outage to more than 4,500 customers who had lost power earlier in the York area, and other areas from Lake Wylie south and east through Fort Mill, Tega Cay and south of the city of Rock Hill, according to cooperative officials and the outage map.
The City of Rock Hill utilities department map showed around 150 outages Friday afternoon.
Tens of thousands of others were reported without power in other areas of South Carolina, according to Duke Energy. More than 10,000 were out of power west of Rock Hill near Greenville.
More than 20,000 customers were without power adjacent to York County in the Charlotte region, The Charlotte Observer reported.
Weather forecast: Wind, near record cold
The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory for the area through Friday with gusts expected of 30 MPH or more.
Temperatures are expected to only reach the 30s Friday and around 30 Saturday. Lows are expected Friday night into Saturday to reach near record cold of around 10 degrees.
A wind chill advisory was also issued by the weather service that lasts through Christmas Eve on Saturday. Coupling in wind and the cold, wind chill - what it feels like outside - are expected to be below zero Friday night into Saturday.
Emergency management officials advised people to be mindful of the danger of fallen electrical lines and trees.
Check back for updates.
This story was originally published December 23, 2022 at 9:40 AM.
