Michigan power outages: Using DTE's outage map during the pre-Christmas storm

DTE prepared for the worst as winter storm bears down

Strong gusty winds will likely knock out power throughout Metro Detroit this weekend - and DTE says they are as prepared as they can be.

You already know it's happening. This Friday morning, the same day millions of people will try to travel for the holidays, a winter storm is bringing extreme cold air into most of the country.

All of Metro Detroit and much of Michigan is under a Winter Storm Warning, the National Weather Service declared Wednesday.

An alert was sent Dec. 21 for almost all of Michigan, including Macomb, Oakland, Washtenaw, Wayne, and Monroe counties. Major cities like Howell, Ann Arbor, Saginaw, Warren, and Detroit are also under a Winter Storm Warning.

The issue will not be snow - which we'll probably see between 3 and 6 inches - the issue is really the wind. It's forecasted to blow around 20-30 MPH and with gusts up to 45 or 50 MPH. That means power outages are likely.

DTE President and COO Trevor Lauer said they have been spent days preparing for this snowstorm.

"This is not like a normal winter storm. This one is a much different event that's happening," Lauer said. "When you get in to this 50 and 60 MPH wind gusts, it will do some damage to the electrical system."

Lauer said if you're unfortunate enough to lose power, be patient and keep in mind they're going up against the extreme weather conditions, too.

"We'll have somewhere between 700 and 800 linemen that can actually go out and do restoration activities but they'll be supported by another 1,000," he said. "Know we're coming. It may take a while because the roads are going to be treacherous, the winds are going to be treacherous, (and) it's going to slow our ability to restore customers because we have to keep our people safe also."

How to check DTE's outage map

DTE is tracking the outages with its outage map that updates as power outages are reported. Find the DTE Energy map here.

DTE services much of Southeast Michigan and tracks outages based throughout the area. On the company's page, it will enclose businesses and residents in different shades. Purple indicates 99 or fewer customers without power, green is 100-500, yellow is 501-1,500, orange is 1,501 to 2,500, and red is 2,501 or more.

More: How to apply for reimbursement from DTE, Consumers Energy

On the outage map, you can search by address to see if there's an outage in your neighborhood. If you're experiencing an outage and it's not listed on DTE's site, you can report it by clicking ‘report outage’.

Also on DTE's map, you can report a downed power line, review the status of your outage, which includes when it will be estimated to be restored.

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