The risk of tornados has passed, but severe thunderstorms across Ontario and Quebec left tens of thousands without power Friday after the region saw dozens of severe weather alerts.
Provincial hydro authorities report that customers in Ontario and Quebec have been affected across more than 800 outages from Timmins, Ont. in the west to the mouth of the St. Lawrence River in eastern Quebec.
Latest updates as of 11:25 a.m. ET:
- Hydro-Quebec has yet to re-connect 3,000 users, as hundreds of people remain in the dark in Montreal, Laval, and the Outaouais.
- In Ontario, Hydro One is responding to about 40,000 affected customers.
- While warnings in eastern Canada have been dropped, Environment Canada has issued a rainfall warning in Alberta and B.C.
Hydro One, an Ontario provider that serves close to 1.5 million residents of the province across 75 per cent of its land area, reported outages affecting 40,000 customers as of 11:15 a.m. Friday.
“Crews are out in full force today working as quickly and safely as possible to restore power after severe storms yesterday affected parts of the province,” reads a notice on the provider’s website. “Stay clear of any fallen power lines. If you spot a fallen line, keep at least 10 metres back, even if it does not appear to be live.”
Minden, Ont. had the most impacted customers as of the update, with 6,704 out of 20,372 residents affected, followed by Huntsville, with 6,572 of 22,244, and Bracebridge, at 4,201 out of 20,216 facing disruptions.
Hydro One predicted restoration of power by 11:30 p.m. at the latest for affected areas, excluding Simcoe and Orangeville, where damage was still being assessed.
Hydro Quebec, meanwhile, counted 95 outages as of 11:25 a.m., with roughly 2,900 residents without electricity of the service’s 4.6 million customer base. The communities with the most people still in the dark included Montreal, with 598 affected customers, Laval, with 651, and Outaouais, with 331.
Lightning flashes in the sky over Renfrew, Ont. (Amber Covertt)
Ping-pong hail, risks of twisters
At least one potential tornado was detected by Doppler radar in Quebec nearly 12 kilometres north of Oskélanéo.
All severe weather warnings and watches had been called off as of Friday morning, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada; the end to dozens of warnings and watch alerts from the early morning hours Thursday, late into the night.
Severe thunderstorm and tornado notices came fast and variable throughout the day, with reported risk of 100 km/h gusts and hail from the size of toonies to ping pong balls.
— Evan Finch (@evan_finch) June 13, 2024“>
“This is a dangerous and potentially life-threatening situation,” read a warning from Environment Canada. “If you hear a roaring sound or see a funnel cloud, swirling debris near the ground, flying debris, or any threatening weather approaching, take shelter immediately.”
Some regions flipped from storm watches and warnings to tornado alerts and back throughout the day as advisories spanned from north of Lake Superior, down to the outer Greater Toronto Area and east into central Quebec.
Some impacted residents received emergency alerts to their mobile devices.
This article will be updated with more information as it becomes available.
An emergency alert was sent in Perth and other communities in Ontario at 10:04 p.m. on Thursday, June 14, 2024.