Traverse City -- Jason Johnson thought he was on the receiving end of someone's Halloween trick.
He walked into his new apartment at Arbors of Traverse Saturday morning, but when he flipped on the light switch, nothing happened.
"It was kind of spooky," said Johnson, 29, of Traverse City. "Luckily, I managed to find some candles."
Johnson was among thousands of area residents who found themselves without power Friday and Saturday after a storm carried heavy winds and cold temperatures to the region.
About 3,000 Consumers Energy customers in Traverse City were in the dark Saturday after 35 mph wind gusts ripped down power lines.
More than 33,000 customers throughout Michigan lost power Saturday morning because of the heavy winds, said Chris Thelen, Consumers Energy spokesman. Crews restored power for nearly 20,000 of those customers by Saturday afternoon.
"We're hoping to have it all restored by midnight," Thelen said. "We are mobilizing some crews from the southern part of the state. Northwest Michigan was the hardest hit."
But Traverse City experienced "weak" wind speeds compared to Gaylord, said Kevin Sullivan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service station in Gaylord.
Winds topped out at 53 mph in some places around Gaylord, Sullivan said.
"I'm amazed that 53 mph wind gusts didn't knock out my power," he said.
Benzie County residents weren't as lucky. Winds tore down a transmission line that provided power to 8,200 customers. Crews restored the transmission line Saturday morning, leaving only six customers in the dark.
Antrim County residents also felt the brunt of Saturday's heavy winds, which left 180 local customers without power.
Traverse City Fire Department officials were busy Saturday morning responding to downed power line calls.
"Sometimes, we'll have 10 or 15 power lines down with winds like we had (Friday) night," said Fire Capt. Marco Marcantoni.
Wind speeds aside, northwest Michigan residents also were reminded of the state's oft-bizarre weather patterns.
Temperatures reached the upper-60s Friday afternoon, and remained in the mid-50s heading into Saturday.
But within an hour early Saturday, temperatures dropped 20 degrees.
"We get these cold air masses spreading into the area, and then we get strong winds, which causes temperatures to drop fast," Sullivan said.
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