Winter storm in Eastern Canada leaves hundreds of thousands without power
CBC News Posted: Feb 25, 2016 6:26 AM ET Last Updated: Feb 25, 2016 10:07 AM ET
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/winter-storm-canada-power-1.3463291(Note: CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external links.)
Crews are working to restore power to hundreds of thousands of customers in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick, after a winter storm brought snow, freezing rain and rain to Eastern Canada.
Winter in Canada: Hundreds of thousands without power in Eastern Canada4:16
As of 10 a.m. ET Thursday, about 23,000 customers in central and eastern Ontario were without electricity, according to Hydro One.
As well, Hydro-Québec reported more than 221,000 customers were without service. That included almost 66,000 customers in the Laurentian region north of Montreal, 62,000 in the Lanaudière region northeast of the city, about 11,900 customers in Montreal itself, and more than 25,900 in the Quebec City area.
Many weather warnings remained in place in Quebec and Atlantic Canada.
Winter storm warnings were posted for regions including the Saguenay and Lac-Saint-Jean areas, with freezing rain warnings for areas south of the Saint Lawrence River, including Rivière-du-Loup and the Gaspé Peninsula.
It's forecast the Montreal area will get rain Thursday morning, giving way to snow in the afternoon.
nb-fredericton-police-pushed
People push a Fredericton police cruiser through an icy intersection in the city on Thursday morning. (Julie Atkinson/Twitter)
In New Brunswick, Environment Canada has issued a freezing rain warning for all of the northern part of the province, with "significant ice buildup" expected.
"A warm front has reached southern New Brunswick last night," says the statement. "Freezing rain ahead of the front will affect northernmost regions of the province and is expected to persist until later this morning."
NB Power said more than 14,000 customers, primarily in central York and Sunbury counties, were without power as of 6:20 a.m. AT.
Nova Scotia is forecast to see heavy rainfall and warm temperatures. Southwestern parts of the province were forecast to get up to 40 mm of rain, while Environment Canada said more than 25 mm could fall in the rest of the province by Thursday evening.
Temperatures are forecast to be mild, with the Annapolis Valley and Cumberland County expected see high temperatures between 14 and 16 C.
Illustrating what a mix of weather the storm brought with it, the Weather Network's Chris Murphy said on CBC News Network that 35 centimetres of snow fell in Wiarton, Ont., while Hamilton received 51 mm of rain and two cm of snow. Toronto got 25 mm of rain and three cm of snow.
In Toronto, where early-morning rain changed over to flurries, a "power bump" led to computer problems and long lineups at Pearson International Airport's Terminal 1.
Toronto Pearson airport encountering flight delays due to power outage
An Air Canada representative said customers should expect flight delays, CBC's Simon Dingley tweeted.
The airport later said that power had been fully restored but told travellers to check their flight status with their airline.
