The High winds began moving into the area Sunday morning, and by 4 p.m. the winds reached the height of their power with strong gusts blowing over trees and knocking down limbs, creating widespread outages in various pockets across Chautauqua County.

The National Weather Service in Buffalo had issued a high wind warning over the weekend and said some wind gusts were expected to reach as high as 50 to 65 miles per hour throughout the day. The NWS reported Monday that the highest recorded wind gust in the region for Sunday was in Fredonia at 69 mph at 8 p.m.

In the Jamestown area, power was knocked out in several different areas of the city and nearby Celoron and Falconer, with crews and supervisors from the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities working through the night to return power. The BPU Water Division advises that water customers may notice widespread discolored water as a result of the outages.

By 10:30 a.m. Monday, the BPU noted that while the majority of its customers are back in power, it still had areas in which there was no electricity, mainly due to major tree damage on wires.

“As trees are cut and moved out of the way, our crews can continue to replace power lines in these sporadic areas,” explained BPU communications director Rebecca Robbins. “Each crew is working one situation at a time, and we have other employees out investigating. We hope customers who remain without electricity can be assured that we are at work and will be at work until everyone is restored.”

National Grid also reported widespread outages in nearly every service area of the county, with the largest number of people affected in the town of Ellery, Harmony, and North Harmony. But there were also smaller outages reported in the Frewsburg, Kiantone, Busti, and Gerry – along with nearly every other township in the county.

Crews with National Grid are expected to continue to work on restoring power to those areas Monday morning and afternoon.

In addition to the high wind, heavy rainfall also fell at times during the day on Sunday and the showers are expected to continue Monday as crews work to restore power.

The high winds picked up during the afternoon. In Jamestown at least one tree was reported to have blown over onto Lakeview Ave. near the intersection with Falconer Street – causing power to go out in that area for a brief time.   No injuries were reported.

The weather was part of a series of strong low pressure system that swept across the nation on Sunday night and into Monday – killing more than 30 people in the Southeast and leaving more than one million homes and businesses without power amid floods and mudslides.

Things will be relatively calm for the remainder of the week in Western New York, although temperatures will remain on the cool side, with daily high temperatures not getting out of the 40s for most of the week.

Late Friday the national weather service had issued a high wind warning for much of Western New York, with wind speeds reaching 35-45 mph and some gusts as high as 65 mph.

In Jamestown, crews from the Board of Public Utilities responded to various electric outages in the service area. According to BPU Spokesperson Becky Robbins, Celoron was one of the hardest hit areas with much of the village without power – starting around 5:30 a.m. Sunday. Wind had brought down a 20-30 foot pine tree on Jones and Gifford near the marinas, causing the outage. Power was restored by about 8:30 a.m.

Robbins added that City outages were isolated events caused by high winds pulling down power lines or causing tree limbs to fall on the lines.  Downed wires also are reported in the Fluvanna area and West Ellicott.  All electric outages were restored by 6 p.m. Sunday night and anyone still without power should call the BPU’s 24-hour trouble line at 661-1640.

Several other communities in Chautauqua County were also impacted by the wind.

Forecasters say say wind speeds on Sunday will be as high as 35 to 45 mph with gusts up to 75 mph in some areas, mostly north and northeast of Chautauqua County.

Strong wind gusts will likely bring down numerous trees and power lines across the region and scattered power outages are expected.

Property damage is also possible, especially to roofs and siding. Buildings under construction and old deteriorating buildings may be damaged significantly. Home owners should secure loose objects.

Travel in high profile vehicles will be very difficult at times, and empty tractor trailers may be in danger of being blown off the road.

The high wind warning began Wednesday morning and continued until 10 p.m. Wednesday night.

Outages were reported across the south county, with residents in the Village of Falconer experiencing an outage during the afternoon, along with other outages reported in Jamestown late Wednesday afternoon and into the early evening. Meanwhile, residents throughout the towns of Carroll, Busti, Harmony, and North Harmony dealt with outages well into Wednesday night. Smaller outages were also reported in the towns of Charlotte, Chautauqua, Ellery and Ellicott.

The wind may have been the strongest in the North County, where speeds of more than 50 mph were reported along the lake shore region, causing outages in both the Dunkirk and Fredonia area.

National Grid is reporting more than 75,000 customers across its service area of upstate New York are still without power this morning, including more than 1000 customers in southern Chautauqua County.

As strong as the winds were in Chautauqua County on Wednesday, they were even stronger in other areas of Western New York.

A likely result of the high winds, twelve cars of a CSX freight train derailed Wednesday afternoon in Batavia. The train was heading from Chicago to Montreal.

MAYVILLE – With a High Wind Warning issued by the National Weather Service in Buffalo for Chautauqua County for Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., the Chautauqua County Office of Emergency Services and Chautauqua County Executive Vince Horrigan are reminding residents to use caution and be prepared.

Wind gusts are expected to be up to 60 mph. These strong winds could result in downed trees and powerlines, scattered power outages, and property damage.

Residents are encouraged to secure or bring in any loose items outdoors that could be blown away by the wind.

If an outage occurs, residents can reduce the risk of fire by using flashlights in the dark and not candles. They should also eliminate unnecessary travel, especially by car, as traffic lights will be out and roads may be congested. Appliances, equipment or electronics that were in use when the power goes out should be turned off and disconnected. This will prevent damage to the equipment, which could occur if there is a surge or spike when the power comes back on. Individuals should also leave one light turned on so they will know when the power comes back on.

Individuals who are using a generator should ensure that the device is kept outdoors and in a well ventilated area. It should always be kept away from doors, windows and vents to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning from coming indoors.

If electrical power lines are down, don’t touch them. Keep your family and pets away and report downed lines to your utility company.

National Grid customers can report power outages by calling 1-800-NIAGARA. They can also view the Outage Map online at www.nationalgridus.com/Upstate-NY-Business/Storms-Outages/Outage-Map. This map shows outages in their area, if a crew has already been assigned to the area, and estimated restoration times.