Power outages were identified across Quebec on Saturday evening. Significant winds that can reach gusts of 70 kilometers per hour also shake Montreal,
Nearly 115,000 Hydro-Quebec customers are without electricity across the province on Saturday evening.
The City of Montreal is particularly affected with 35,335 private households with electricity. In Montérégie, 30,660 are also deprived of it, while in the Outaouais, 21,618 customers experience power outages. In the Laurentians, 13,148 dwellings are also cut off from the Hydro-Québec network.
Despite these weather conditions, the Sûreté du Québec did not report any major accidents at 9 p.m. on Saturday.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
A resident cleans the windows of his vehicle parked in the Pointe-Saint-Charles neighborhood.
Even though the rain had stopped early in the afternoon in the Montreal region, freezing rain was still affecting some regions, such as Charlevoix. In the Gaspé and on the North Shore, the freezing rain was expected to continue until the evening.
Temperatures will, however, continue to increase gradually throughout the day throughout the province, and the ice will be less and less present, underlines Simon Legault, meteorologist at Environment Canada.
“What will follow, for example, are the high winds,” he continues. The gusts will start first in the southwest of the province, in the Témiscamingue and Outaouais sectors, then in the evening in the Greater Montreal region. All of southern Quebec will be affected by winds overnight. “We are talking about gusts of 90 up to 100 kilometers per hour in places,” says Simon Legault.
Environment Canada expects the winds to cause several power outages in the province. The meteorologist recalls that objects that could be swept away by the wind must be securely attached, such as car shelters.
Saturday afternoon, Hydro-Quebec reported some power outages in the province. The worst is however expected in the evening, warns Mr. Legault. Motorists will need to be careful when traveling on Saturday evening due to the winds.
The state of the roads will however be adequate on Sunday. “We don’t expect what fell [samedi] in terms of rain freezes overnight. Even if there are temperatures that are negative, it still takes colder than that to make an ice rink and it is dangerous ”on the roads, explains Simon Legault. Temperatures above zero are expected during the day on Sunday, and the cold will again be felt in Quebec towards the end of the week.
Over 140,000 homes without electricity in Ontario
More than 140,000 Ontarians were without power on Saturday night due to high winds that ravaged the southern part of the province and triggered a widespread warning from Environment Canada.
Utility Hydro One said blackouts were affecting about 143,000 customers at 7 p.m. on Saturday, and those in the hardest-hit areas are expected to remain in the dark overnight.
Police forces in southern Ontario say they are responding to calls about fallen wires, trees and flying debris.
Environment Canada has issued wind warnings for most of the southern region of the province, with gusts between 90 and 120 kilometers per hour expected in the evening.
With The Canadian Press