Thousands of CMP customers lost power Friday as high winds blew across the state.

Over 36,000 customers have been affected throughout the day, according to a CMP spokesperson, peaking at about 21,200 in the afternoon.

Over 6,300 customers in Waldo County, nearly 4,000 in York County, over 3,000 in Cumberland County and about 2,500 customers in Androscoggin County were without power as of about 2:40 p.m., according to CMP’s website.

The number of customers without power hovered between 15,000 to 16,000 from 3-4 p.m., according to the website, before dropping to roughly 10,000 by 6 p.m.

By 9 p.m., only about 4,000 customers were without power, including more than 2,100 in Cumberland County.

Much of the New England coast has a gale warning from the National Weather Service in place through 8 p.m. Friday. Wind gusts of over 40 mph were forecasted along Maine’s coast, according to the warning.

But the outages are hitting interior Maine as well.

“We’re seeing wind cause outages across our service area,” Dustin Wlodkowski, a CMP spokesperson, said in a phone call Friday afternoon. “We’re expecting it to go into this evening.”

CMP crews are out surveying damage, Wlodkowski said, but can’t go up in bucket trucks to repair lines in areas where the wind exceeds 30 mph.

“When leaves are on the trees, that’s when the branches can act like sails,” Wlodkowski said.

Wind-snapped branches pose the primary threat for outages at this time of year, and they put crew members at risk as well.

Mariners were advised to alter their plans on Friday to avoid hazardous conditions or remain in port, according to the NWS gale warning.