Power being restored as storms clear up in Western Pa.

Power outages in Western Pennsylvania are starting to drop as thunderstorms and high winds from Wednesday night clear out.

Duquesne Light Co. reported more than 3,000 of its customers were without power in Western Pennsylvania Thursday morning, down about 15,000 outages from Wednesday night. Some of the largest outages in West Mifflin, Aliquippa, Economy, Indiana and Penn Hills.

West Penn Power reported more than 1,300 outages in Westmoreland County Thursday morning, down about 5,300 outages from Wednesday night. Sutersville, Sewickley and Hempfield had the highest number of outages.

The company also reported more than 200 outages in Allegheny County, down about 2,000 from Wednesday night. Most of the outages are located in Elizabeth.

The National Weather Service declared a tornado watch Wednesday for a wide swath of Western Pennsylvania counties, including Allegheny, Westmoreland, Armstrong, Washington and Indiana counties, but the watch expired by 9:15 p.m. without any reported sightings.

The severe thunderstorm warnings that had alerted parts of Allegheny and Butler counties and the Alle-Kiski Valley portion of Westmoreland County had expired by 9 p.m. as the storms passed through.

Among reports of downed trees and wires, fallen trees that blocked the southbound lanes of Route 28 in O’Hara near Exits 10 and 11 have since been cleared, according to an Allegheny County 911 dispatcher.