On Thursday, recovery efforts were still underway in Menlo Park, as this week's windy winter storm toppled trees and power lines. PG&E said work to restore power in parts of the city would require stopping traffic on U.S. Highway 101 in the city.

"We are facing a challenging situation restoring power to approximately 4,000 customers in #BelleHaven, #MenloPark," the utility company said in a tweet posted at 10:19 a.m. on Feb. 23. "Fallen trees have caused damage to our power lines, and it will not be possible to restore power without temporarily stopping traffic on nearby Highway 101 between Marsh Rd and Willow Rd."

PG&E said it was working with Caltrans and the California Highway Patrol to identify the best way to safely do the work with the least possible traffic impact.

PG&E reported Wednesday that San Mateo County was the hardest hit county in the Bay Area from this windstorm, with power outages affecting nearly 1 in 3 people in the county, over 60,000 customers, according to an email the city of Menlo Park sent to residents Thursday morning.

"In Menlo Park, at least one substation was severely affected with wires coming down across major travel lanes. Those and others require coordination with multiple agencies and restoration sometimes takes time. The City is working closely with PG&E to expedite repairs," the email said.

As of 11 a.m. on Thursday, of the 21,843 customers will without power in the Bay Area, the vast majority -- 19,596 -- were in San Mateo County, PG&E said in an email.

The city updated the number of downed trees and branches in Menlo Park in the email, saying that between 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 21, and 4 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22, it received 27 calls reporting trees down and 46 calls for broken tree limbs or other related issues.

"This in addition to multiple small branches and leaves, means there is a lot of debris in the right of way and our public streets," the email said. "Please help us keep this debris out of the storm drain as rain is forecast between now and Friday evening. While it will not be rain like we experienced in January, if storm drains become blocked, it could be enough to affect surface streets and traffic."

In an email Thursday, PG&E said its in-house meteorologists expected a large portion of its service area above 2,000 feet to see a foot or more of snow by Friday and snow accumulations down to 1,000 feet or lower could exceed 6 inches in some regions.

The utility company also warned of outages from "breezy to gusty winds" Thursday afternoon into Friday morning, with the possibility of isolated thunderstorms through Friday.

"Due to the severe and complex nature of the elements at hand, this has the potential to become a major winter storm with significant outage activity in the South Bay, North Bay, Peninsula and Santa Cruz Mountains," the email said.

Fallen trees should be reported to Menlo Park Public Works at 650-330-6780 from 7:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. and to 650-330-6300 after hours.

For downed power lines or other emergency situations, leave the area right away and call 9-1-1. Then, call PG&E at 1-800-743-5000.