Wind advisory remains in effect Thursday

BOSTON -- Howling high winds and whipping rain are causing power outages across Massachusetts.

The state's major utilities are reporting a combined 30,000 customers without power Thursday morning, down from 38,000 earlier in the day.

National Grid says almost 23,000 of its more than 1 million customers are without electricity, most in Worcester County. NStar reports more than 6,000 of its customers are without power while Western Mass. Electric Co. is reporting about 1,200. Unitil had just a few dozen outages and never had more than 200 Massachusetts customers without energy.

Power outages caused some schools to be closed. Check closings here.

Temperatures are in the upper 50s, with winds gusting up to 60 miles per hour. The Blue Hills Observatory outside Boston reported a 77 mph gust.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.