Ottawa and eastern Ontario dig out after being buried by winter storm

Ottawa and the surrounding region are digging out from a major winter storm that battered the region Thursday and Friday, bringing rain, ice pellets, snow and a flash freeze.

Tens of thousands of people lost power during the storm across eastern Ontario and western Quebec, many of whom remain in the dark on Christmas Eve.

POWER OUTAGES CONTINUE OUTSIDE OTTAWA

Hydro Ottawa said it had about 270 customers left to restore at 9 a.m., with several small pockets of outages and backyard service remaining. At 4 p.m., the utility said only six customers remained without power. At 6:30 p.m. Hydro One was still reporting approximately 19,000 customers without power in eastern Ontario, as winds continued to blow in parts of the region to the west and south of Ottawa, while Hydro Quebec said approximately 9,000 customers in the Outaouais region were still waiting for restoration as of 6:15 p.m.

A weather advisory for Ottawa still calls for issues including strong wind gusts of 50 to 70 km/h, sudden loss of visibility due to flurries and blowing snow, wind chills near minus 30, local to scattered blowing snow, and accumulation of snow due to blowing snow on road surfaces, especially over exposed areas. Blizzard warnings remain in effect along the St. Lawrence from Belleville to the Quebec boundary. 

TRAVELLERS PARALYZED

The winter weather parking ban for Ottawa was lifted at 7 a.m. and many city services reopened after being closed on Friday; however, the city warned of blowing snow conditions on several roads, especially in the Greenbelt, and urged drivers to be cautious. A 'significant weather event' has been declared in Ottawa and several other municipalities around the region, including Lanark and Kingston, which suspends standard timelines required to meet their winter maintenance objectives. The County of Lennox and Addington has declared a state of emergency.

At the Ottawa Airport, 20 arrivals and 10 departures were listed as delayed or cancelled at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, but other flights were still running on time.

When rainy conditions switched to snow and blowing snow Friday afternoon and evening, roads became treacherous. Entire areas of the province were closed to travel, including every road in Prince Edward County. Stretches of Highway 401 are closed because of whiteout conditions and Ontario Provincial Police are responding to dozens of collisions. Highways 416 remains open and the 417 is running through Otttawa, but it was closed from Ottawa to the Quebec boundary because of poor driving conditions.

The storm has also caused delays on the busiest rail corridor in the country, with Via Rail passengers reporting being trapped on their trains between Ottawa and Toronto overnight. The train operator said in a statement Saturday that storm conditions Friday night made it "impossible" to move trains.

"We, however, deeply apologize for this situation and the impact on our passengers and we are continuing to work with our teams and the infrastructure owner to either get those trains moving as quickly as possible or bring them to their final destination with new equipment. Passengers who are travelling on these trains will be provided a full refund," Via Rail said.  

Early Saturday evening, Via Rail said a CN Rail derailment near Coburg, Ont. is forcing all trains running between Toronto and Ottawa and Toronto and Montreal to be cancelled on Christmas Day. 

Twenty-four different trains on the Windsor-Quebec City corridor were cancelled Saturday, according to Via Rail's website. 

The Thousand Islands Bridge Authority says its vehicle restrictions due to winds that were in place for most of the day Friday were lifted at around 11:30 a.m. The Canada Border Services Agency is advising of a delay of about 30 minutes at the crossing. Other border crossings in the region are showing no significant delays Saturday morning.

The Wolfe Island Ferry attempted a trial run Saturday but was unsuccessful because of the weather. Service has been cancelled since Friday because of rough sailing conditions. 

Environment Canada reported 13 cm of snow in Ottawa on Friday and 4.6 mm of rain at the Ottawa Airport and wind gusts of up to 86 km/h at their maximum. The wind reached 92 km/h in Gatineau. The Kingston region saw wind gusts of nearly 100 km/h on Friday, and Brockville’s winds were just over 80 km/h. In the Ottawa Valley, 30.2 mm of combined precipitation (the water equivalent of snow and rain) was recorded in Pembroke.

OTTAWA FORECAST

The snow will continue through the day Saturday with another 2 to 4 cm expected in the afternoon. The temperature should hold steady around -8 C, with wind chills of around -20.

Expect another 2 cm of flurries and blowing snow in the evening and overnight, with a temperature still hovering around -7 C and a wind chill near -17.

There’s a good chance of a few more flurries on Christmas morning. The temperature is expected to drop through the afternoon to around -10 C with wind chills of around -16.

A brief break in the snow is in the forecast on Boxing Day with a cloudy sky and a high of -5 C.

Snow returns Tuesday and Wednesday.