GALLIPOLIS — While the first official day of winter wasn’t until Monday, a massive storm system that pushed across the region gave the tri-county a taste of Old Man Winter’s wares over the weekend, leaving thousands of residents without electricity.

Mason County sustained the biggest hit with more than 2,500 customers left in the dark on Saturday and Sunday. At press time, about 1,200 Appalachian Power customers in Mason County were still without electricity. All told, more than 130,000 AEP customers in West Virginia experienced power outages over the course of the weekend.

AEP Ohio reported more than 1,300 outages in Meigs County and another 900 or so in Gallia County on Saturday and Sunday. The utility reported no significant outages on Monday in either county. Most customers in Meigs and Gallia counties had power restored by late Sunday and early Monday.

Buckeye Rural Electric Cooperative (BREC) reported that all of its customers had power restored by Sunday evening. Jeffrey E. Tackett, vice president of engineering and operations, said 2,482 customers were without electricity at the height of BREC’s outage, with the highest concentration of outages occurring in Gallia and Lawrence counties.

In addition to Gallia and Lawrence, BREC serves customers in Meigs, Athens, Vinton, Jackson, Scioto, Pike and Ross counties.

Emergency dispatchers in all three counties fielded numerous reports of downed power lines and other issues related to the storm.

American Electric Power encourages its customers to report outages either by telephone or online. In West Virginia, Appalachian Power customers can call toll free (800) 982-4237, or visit www.appalachianpower.com.

In Ohio, AEP customers can report outages by calling toll free, (800) 672-2231 or (800) 277-2177. Online reports can be made at www.aepohio.com.

Buckeye Rural Electric customers can call toll free, (800) 282-7204 to report an outage.

The National Weather Service (NWS) forecast for the tri-county area is calling for a chance of flurries today followed by mostly cloudy skies on Wednesday before a pocket of rain settles in on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. According to NWS, high temperatures should be in the mid to upper 30s today and Wednesday and are expected to climb into the mid 40s Thursday and Friday.

The weather service is forecasting a slight chance of snow showers for the weekend with highs in the mid 30s.