UPDATED: Xcel Crews Working to Restore Power in Hudson, Menomonie

UPDATE (9 a.m., Friday, May 3): Wisconsin Xcel Energy workers have been working hard to restore power to the area, and many customers were back on line late last night. 

Wisconsin Xcel updated Patch Thursday evening with this statement:

As of 6 p.m., more than 80 percent of the customers affected by today's snow storm have been restored to service. With snow continuing in some areas and additional outages in the afternoon the number of customers in western and northern Wisconsin and southeastern Minnesota affected by today's storm increased to about 60,000. In Wisconsin, about 6,400 Xcel Energy customers remain without service.

A total of approximately 330 field crews (lineman, troubleman) were working restore service in the affected area in the two states.

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What predicated the cancellation of Hudson Public Schools Thursday, you might ask? 

It wasn't the roads.

Nearly 10,000 people woke up Thursday morning without power, including several hundred commerical customers in the area. 

Xcel Energy of Wisconsin left this message with Hudson Patch at around 9 a.m. on May 2: 

Crews have been working throughout the early morning hours to fix damages caused by heavy, wet snow across our northwestern Wisconsin serving area including Spring Valley, Menomonie, Hudson, Amery, Rice Lake and Hayward. We have received numerous reports of downed power lines and broken trees in power lines. At this time, 9,700 customers are without service. We are assessing damages and will provide an estimated restoration time as soon as one becomes available. For your safety, please stay away from any downed lines or poles. Thank you for your patience.