Winter storm knocks out power to over 100,000 Michigan customers

(Reuters) - A massive winter storm moving across the eastern half of the U.S. on Friday knocked out power to more than 100,000 customers in Michigan ahead of a brutal freeze expected to blanket the region starting this weekend.

Some 131,777 homes and businesses were without power in the state, according to data from PowerOutage.US, a website that tracks, records and aggregates data of power outages in the U.S.

Extreme weather is a reminder of the February freeze in 2021 that left millions in Texas and other U.S. Central states without power, water and heat for days, and a winter storm in December 2022 - known as Elliott in the energy industry - that almost caused the collapse of power and natural gas systems in parts of the eastern half of the country.

The storm is coming ahead of what will likely be the nation's coldest weather since December 2022, according to data from financial firm LSEG.

(Reporting by Surbhi Misra in Bengaluru; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)