With a major storm sweeping through Quebec on Friday, tens of thousands of Quebecers are without power as schools in the Greater Montreal Area are closed and several flights are either delayed or cancelled.
On the cusp of the busy holiday travel weekend, more than 240,000 Hydro-Quebec customers lost electricity, though the Montreal area has been mostly spared from the blackouts.
The hardest hit regions are Quebec City, the Laurentians and the Outaouais. Some residents in Quebec City lost their car shelters, commonly referred to as Tempos, due to the high winds, which prompted local police to urge people to secure the structures.
"Due to the weather forecast for today and tomorrow, the number of customers without power could continue to increase," Hydro-Quebec said in a notice to customers. "Our crews are working to restore service as quickly as possible."
Watches and warnings in southern Quebec. (Lori Graham/CTV News)
The snow that started late Thursday night switched over to rain in Montreal and with the temperature expected to fall into the afternoon, there is a risk of freezing rain.
Several schools are closed in the Greater Montreal Area Friday as the powerful storm will bring a messy mix of heavy snow, pouring rain, freezing rain and powerful winds into the weekend.
"We may only see one of these storms every five or 10 years," Environment Canada meteorologist Mitch Meredith told The Canadian Press. "I've only seen a couple of storms like this in the last 20 years."
FLASH FREEZE WARNING ISSUED
Environment and Climate Change Canada issued a flash freeze warning for the Montreal area just before 9 a.m. Friday as the temperature is expected to fall while the snow changes to rain. "Ponding water, slush, and any falling precipitation will freeze as the temperature drops," the weather agency said Friday.
Montreal will reach a high of 5 C, but the colder air will bring it down to -3 C by the early evening.
The temperature is expected to drop later in the day Friday. (Lori Graham/CTV News)
Sarah Bensadoun, a spokesperson for Quebec's transport ministry, told CTV News that drivers can expect to see crews clearing the roads up to 24 to 48 hours after the precipitation falls to prevent slippery conditions.
She said by mid-morning there was no access between Quebec City and Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean due to road closures in the area. There was no timeline for when they would be reopened.
"The number one recommendation would be to delay or cancel any kind of commute because the weather conditions are changing," as are the road conditions, she added. "It is not safe at all."
The snowfall warning issued on Thursday ended Friday morning, but watches and warnings remain in effect in various regions stretching from Ontario to Atlantic Canada.
Environment Canada called for 15 to 20 centimetres of snow in Montreal, where wind gusts reached 53 km/h early Friday. By the noon hour, in Quebec City, wind speeds approached 100 km/h.
AIRLINES CANCEL, DELAY FLIGHTS
Late Thursday, WestJet proactively cancelled flights at airports in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia due to the storm.
The cancellations applied to airports in Toronto, as well in Ottawa, London, Montreal, and Waterloo.
Passengers watch the flight status board at Montreal-Trudeau airport during a powerful winter storm on Friday, Dec. 23, 2022. (CTV News)
Meanwhile, dozens of departing flights at the Montreal International Airport were delayed or cancelled Friday morning.
Air Canada said Friday that it had cancelled "a number of flights" in Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto, including all its flights out of Toronto's downtown island airport, citing the storm, reduced airport capacity and operational constraints.
Drivers are being urged to use caution as surfaces will be slick and hard to navigate with the rain-snow mix.
-- With files from CTV News Montreal's Rob Lurie and The Canadian Press
This is a developing story that will be updated.
Quebec storm: More than 240,000 customers lose power due to snowstorm - CTV News Montreal
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