Hydro-Québec officials said their teams are working hard to restore power to customers after a spring storm bringing heavy, wet snow swept through Quebec.
Around 600,000 customers were affected at one point or another since Wednesday evening, when strong winds started gusting and heavy snow began accumulating on tree branches, causing them to hit power lines, said Hydro-Québec spokesperson Cendrix Bouchard at an afternoon news conference.
“We’re doing our best in order to have them back on the grid as quickly as possible. It is likely though, that some people will have to wait until tomorrow in order to have power restored,” said Bouchard.
The most affected regions were the Laurentians followed by Montreal and the Montérégie region.
Thousands of people in the Outaouais, Laval, Lanaudière and the Eastern Townships also lost power.
Bouchard said 1,200 Hydro-Québec employees were on the ground working to get people back on the grid.
He reminded people to keep a safe distance, about 10 metres, from downed power lines and poles.
School closures
All schools under the English Montreal School Board, the Lester B. Pearson School Board and the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board were closed due to a mixture of snow and power outages.
Around a dozen schools with Montreal’s French school service centre, the Centre de services scolaire de Montréal (CSSDM) were also closed, as well as some under the Riverside School Board in Longueuil, due to power outages.
April usually brings showers, but wet snow swept across Quebec Wednesday into Thursday. More than 25 centimetres fell in downtown Montreal.
The storm was the result of a clash of two weather systems, one from Colorado and another from the East Coast.
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) had issued a snowfall warning Wednesday morning for Montreal, saying total snowfall accumulations of 15 to 20 centimetres were expected until Thursday evening.
Montreal city spokesperson Phillipe Sabourin said snow removal operators have been working during the night and Thursday to clear the roads.
But as many motorists have already removed their snow tires, he urged people to “take public transit or stay home.”
Sabourin said the city will not launch a snow removal operation as the snow is expected to melt over the weekend when temperatures climb.
ECCC warned that rapidly accumulating snow could make travel difficult in some locations, adding that visibility may be suddenly reduced at times.