More than 27,000 PG&E customers around the Bay Area were without power on Thursday night as an atmospheric river continues to pummel the region with heavy rains and wind.
As of 8 p.m., 7,527 customers were affected in Sonoma County and 7,219 were impacted in the South Bay, PG&E spokesman Jeff Smith said.
Outages affected 6,755 customers in the East Bay, 4,860 on the Peninsula, 896 in San Francisco and another 179 in the North Bay.
The total number of customers without power has dropped since Thursday afternoon, when more than 35,000 were affected.
The utility agency said wind gusts topping 92 mph caused widespread outages during the day with the counties of Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Mateo, and Sonoma being the hardest hit.
On Thursday night, rain and wind continued to inundate the region, bringing flooding and warnings of severe thunderstorms and possible tornadoes.
The National Weather Service extended a flood watch for the region through 10 p.m. Friday.
The storm is expected to bring moderate to heavy rain of 2 to 5 inches in the valleys, with up to 6 to 8 inches in the coastal mountains.
The main threat is from flash flooding due to heavy rains, the weather service said.
In addition, forecasters issued a beach hazards statement continues through 4 a.m. Friday for Bay Area coast lines, where strong winds will cause dangerous conditions, forecasters said.
PG&E’s outage map is available on its website.