TRAVERSE CITY — Danielle Wegrecki's day began with a bang.
Wegrecki, 30, rents a home not far from Bowers Harbor on Grand Traverse County's Old Mission Peninsula. She was asleep with her infant daughter at about 7 a.m. Monday when she heard what sounded like crackling thunder.
"Then I heard 'Boom!,'" she said. "It rattled me right out of my sleep."
A gigantic limb from a gnarled old maple tree in Wegrecki's yard ripped off the trunk and fell on the house amid strong winds. It caused heavy damage to the roof and covered the house and yard with leaves and large branches.
Power lines, trees and other debris were scattered over area homes and roadways Monday and Tuesday as strong winds and heavy rains pounded the region. Crews were still in the process Tuesday of clearing roads and restoring power to hundreds of area residents.
A low-pressure system from Canada moved into the Great Lakes and strengthened, mixing with warm water temperatures to create "some unstable conditions," said Kevin Sullivan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gaylord.
That generated high winds Monday night into Tuesday, especially in areas closest to the lakeshore, Sullivan said.
The highest gusts reached 52 mph at 2:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Big Sable Point Lighthouse south of Manistee, Sullivan said. It was followed by a 49-mph gust Monday night at the Grand Traverse Lighthouse near Northport.
"As you went inland, the winds were still strong, but they weren't as strong," he said.
Thousands of northern Michigan residents were without power Tuesday. As of 10 a.m., more than 2,600 Consumers Energy customers were in the dark, with the majority in Leelanau, Grand Traverse and Benzie counties, Consumers spokesman Terry DeDoes said.
About 200 Cherryland Electric Cooperative customers in six counties remained without power as of Tuesday morning, down from close to 500 outages at the peak.
Trees falling on lines and, in some cases, lines falling to the ground were among the problems for both companies.
"It kept our crews busy," Cherryland spokesman Nick Edson said. "The winds can really cause havoc, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been."
Edson estimated the remaining outages would be restored by Tuesday afternoon, and DeDoes said it likely would be evening before the rest of Consumers' customers had power.
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