New snow less than an inch was possible in the Iron Mountain area this afternoon, with wind chills between minus 5 and zero. Highs in the teens and lows in the single digits were predicted.

We Energies on Monday afternoon reported power outages affecting nearly 5,000 customers, including more than 800 each in Dickinson and Iron counties and nearly 500 in Menominee County. The highest concentration of outages was in Wisconsin’s Vilas County — more than 1,800.

Upper Peninsula Power Company was working to restore power to more than 2,200 customers across Alger, Baraga, Delta, Houghton, Iron, Keweenaw, Marquette, Menominee and Schoolcraft counties.

Heavy, wet snow and strong, gusting winds were the main causes for service disruption, said Dan Freeborn, UPPCO’s manager of communications and external affairs. As trees accumulate snow, the additional weight causes limbs to dip and lay onto distribution lines, he said.

Todd Caudell of Iron Mountain, joined by Cooper, clears a path Monday after the area's first big snowfall of the season. (Eden Caudell photo)

“Our teams prepared for this storm in advance, and we are executing our restoration plan designed to safely restore power as quickly and efficiently as possible,” Freeborn said.

Wisconsin Public Service, meanwhile, reported more than 5,000 customer outages, including more than 1,300 in Marinette County.

Snow was accompanied by strong winds in the storm that began Sunday afternoon and continued into Monday.

About 2 feet of snow fell in the Marquette area, 16 inches at Crystal Falls, 10 inches at Iron Mountain and 14 inches at Gladstone, according to the National Weather Service.

New Year’s Eve, Wednesday, should be mostly cloudy with a high near 12 and a low around zero, NWS said. Winds will continue to gust as high as 25 mph.

Jake Payette of Niagara, Wis., sits on a tower of snow he built Sunday night. (Emily Payette photo)

New Year’s Day should be mostly sunny, with a high near 10.