Freezing rain closes some schools, cancels many school buses
The entire Ottawa-Gatineau region remains under freezing rain warnings Wednesday.
Environment Canada is still warning that if enough precipitation falls on Ottawa-Gatineau and areas to its east and west as freezing rain versus ice pellets, it could potentially cause ice storm conditions with hydro outages and tree damage.
Ottawa is warning residents to be prepared by having flashlights and batteries available. It has not put in any parking restrictions.
By about 6:45 a.m., freezing rain was falling on rural west Ottawa, moving to central Ottawa around 7:15 a.m.
About 2,800 customers in Stittsville have no power, according to Hydro Ottawa. There aren't any major collisions in the region.
A row of Ottawa road-clearing equipment in December 2018. The capital and surrounding region is under a freezing rain warning today (CBC).
Cancellations, closures
Schools are closed in western Quebec, and while they're generally open in eastern Ontario, school buses are only running in the Kingston and Belleville areas.
Some boards and service centres, such as the Western Québec School Board, say staff should work remotely. The Centre de services scolaire au Cœur-des-Vallées says classes are cancelled.
As always, it's best to check with your board, service centre or school about what your specific options are.
Some CEGEPs have suspended classes and Algonquin College has cancelled classes at its Pembroke campus.
The freezing rain timeline
A change to rain will happen when temperatures rise high enough. For Ottawa-Gatineau, that could come late in the afternoon.
That change to rain could happen earlier in the afternoon to the south in places such as Brockville and Cornwall. Further south, it could be raining in Kingston and Belleville by noon.
Someone put a tarp over their windshield in Ottawa April 5, 2023 under a freezing rain warning for the region (Hallie Cotnam/CBC).
Western Quebec outside of Gatineau could see freezing rain until around midnight.
Ottawa's temperature is expected to hang around the freezing point all Wednesday before rising overnight to a forecasted high of 10 C Thursday.
There's also a risk of a thunderstorm in many places Wednesday and early Thursday morning.
This article was originally published by CBC News.