Halloween power outage hits thousands of customers in Twin Cities metro
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Thousands of Xcel Energy customers were without power after the first snow of the season hit the Twin Cities metro on Halloween.
Reported power outages
As of about 2 p.m. Thursday, the Xcel Energy Outage map shiowed more than 19,000 customers impacted by more than 150 outages in the Twin Cities metro, St. Cloud and western Wisconsin.
More than 2,000 customers are without power in and around areas of Maple Grove, Champlin and Brooklyn Park.
READ MORE: MN weather: First snow of the season in the Twin Cities metro
Further northwest, Wright-Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association reported 4,600 customers without power, with the biggest outages in Monticello and Annandale.
By Thursday night, the outages had mostly abated with Xcel reporting just over 1,000 customers without power as of 9 p.m.
Schools without power
At least two schools are without power on Thursday afternoon.
Wayzata High School in Plymouth lost power and released the following statement:
"Due to ongoing power outage issues and not being able to serve students lunch, we are releasing students early. They can be picked up starting at 1:20 p.m. Students can remain in the building safely until 3:20 p.m. School buses will run their regular routes at that time."
FOX 9 has also confirmed Champlin Park High School is without power.
Weather forecast
Snow in Litchfield on Halloween. (Laurie Terning)
Thursday began with rain before shifting to snow.
The snow is expected to move out of the area just in time for trick-or-treating Thursday night. Check the forecast here.
Share your snow photos with us. See snow photos and upload them here.