New York City’s biggest power utility says it’s preparing to respond to potential outages as windy weather approaches the metropolitan area.

The National Weather Service is forecasting gusty wind and sometimes heavy rain in the area Thursday night and Friday. The agency says wind gusts could reach 45 mph Friday morning and early afternoon.

The wind and rain are associated with the snowstorm that socked the Midwest Thursday. But it isn’t forecast to bring snow to the New York area.

Still, utility Consolidated Edison says trees and branches weakened by October’s Superstorm Sandy could fall and take down power lines.

If there are outages, Con Ed will focus first on repairs that provide power to the largest number of customers, then on smaller groups and individual buildings.

(AP)