ComEd crews say rising temperatures a welcome sight

With the number of reported power outages down from about 61,000 Wednesday morning to 185 by noon Thursday, ComEd officials say a significantly warmer weekend forecast will be a big help.

Spokesman Tom Dominguez said crews are being left on call through at least Friday, when highs are predicted to reach into the mid-20s. By Saturday, highs are expected in the mid-40s.

"We're seeing the temperatures rise back into a more normal range starting (Friday) and that will allow us to get back into some areas where we've been the past few days and strengthen the service where needed," Dominguez said. "The warming weather is definitely going to help."

As of Thursday afternoon, Dominguez said, the remaining 85 outages were mostly individual outages in Chicago.

"Fortunately, there's no widespread outages," he said. "Our crews have been working around the clock to make sure that number keeps decreasing."

ComEd recommends any customer who experiences an outage to go to a heated location, such as a community warming center, until power is restored. Warming center locations appear on ComEd's mobile app and Outage Map, which customers also can use to easily find information on the location and size of outages and get estimated restoration times.