Blowing snow, freezing rain hit Ont., Que.
Digital Reporter
Tuesday, December 29, 2015, 6:00 PM -
Freezing rain and wet snow have moved into southern Ontario.
The conditions are courtesy of a Texas low that hit Monday, bringing 2-5 cm of snow to the GTA with locally higher amounts. That system continued to track eastward, bringing 14 cm of snow to the Ottawa region into Tuesday.
Almost all major highways in eastern Ontario were fully or partly covered with heavy snow to start the day, according to the Transportation Ministry, and Flightaware.com reported dozens of delayed or cancelled flights at Macdonald-Cartier International Airport in Ottawa.
Within Ottawa itself, the Ottawa Citizen reports there have been relatively few collisions, as many people took the day off for the holidays, but those who had to be on the roads faced messy conditions.
The Citizen also reports public transit struggled to handle the conditions, with some buses getting stuck. An overnight parking ban will be in effect Tuesday evening to help plows clear the snow.
Winter storm and freezing rain warnings were issued for parts of southern Ontario, in and around the Ottawa area, including the city itself.
Those were dropped by the early evening but hazardous winter conditions are expected to persist on local roadways through the evening.
#Ottawa #Hwy417 is snow covered. Drive safe and give yourself plenty of time. pic.twitter.com/CKLLlZedX0
— 511Ontario (@511Ontario) December 29, 2015
Winter storm warnings remain in effect for southern portions of Quebec, with up to 40 cm of snow expected in the Laurentians and 15 cm in the Quebec City area. Winds up to 60 km/h could cause blowing snow and significantly reduce visibility.
15-30 cm of snow reported at both #YOW #Ottawa and #YUL #Montreal as of 2pm EST #meteoqc #qcstorm #onstorm
— Dayna Vettese (@daynavettese) December 29, 2015
WET SNOW WEIGHS DOWN POWER LINES, SNARLS TRAFFIC IN THE GTA
Hydro One was reporting around 3,000 outages in southern Ontario early Tuesday, down from an overnight peak of 5,000. The slushy conditions played a factor in nearly 300 collisions on GTA roads, according to the Toronto Star.
WATCH IT ONLINE: We are livestreaming our Storm Watch coverage at www.theweathernetwork.com/live (and on mobile here).
Outages
- All power utilities
- Enwin (Windsor)
- Enersource (Mississauga)
- Burlington hydro
- Guelph Hydro
- Hydro One
- Hydro Ottawa
- Utilities Kingston
- KW Hydro
- London Hydro
- Milton Hydro
- Niagara Power
- North Bay Hydro
- Oakville Hydro
- Sudbury
- Thunder Bay Hydro
- Toronto Hydro
- Waterloo North Hydro
Schools and Universities
Search all Ontario school boards here
Search all Ontario Universities here
Highway conditions
Airports
- Toronto Pearson
- Toronto Island
- Ottawa
- London
- Waterloo Region
- Windsor
- Kingston
- Hamilton
- Sudbury
- Timmins
- Sault Ste. Marie
- North Bay
- Thunder Bay
WATCH BELOW: Remember when winter looked like it would skip us altogether? Here are our top 10 un-winterlike viewer shots
SOURCE: The Weather Network | Environment Canada | Ottawa Citizen
