Gusty conditions caused scattered power outages throughout the region Tuesday.

Northwest Indiana and the Chicago area were under a wind advisory until 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Wind gusts at Lansing Municipal Airport reached 37 mph Tuesday evening, with wind speeds of 26 mph.

Both NIPSCO and ComEd reported outages across the region, most of them resulting from tree branches that broke and fell onto power lines.

"Trees are snapping and taking lines down and crews are responding to those as they occur," NIPSCO spokesman Nick Meyer said. "Certainly the wind is playing a factor in all of those outages."

Com Ed spokesman Jeff Burdick said, "There have been lots of spot outages here and there. The wind has affected service to pockets of customers."

In addition, the National Weather Service issued a rip current alert for Lake Michigan in Northwest Indiana and southwestern Michigan until tonight.

Strong west winds can create large waves and rip current conditions, making swimming extremely dangerous.

Waves also will be high enough to crash onto piers, making them dangerous places to be.

The National Weather Service warned Tuesday winds will increase to 20 to 30 mph with frequent gusts between 30 and 40 mph and gusts up to 45 mph possible. Today's forecast called for winds of 10 mph with gusts up to 20 mph.

Drivers in large or high-profile vehicles are urged to use extra caution during severe winds. Ornaments or other parts of buildings could be blow down, and small items such as trampolines or garbage cans could be blown around.