Soon, surfaces such as roads, streets, sidewalks, and parking lots became icy, slippery, and dangerous.
The Ministry of Transport emphasized that the roadway poses a danger in places and can make road conditions more difficult. He recommended caution and avoiding travel.
As of Wednesday night, about a million homes — mostly in Quebec but also in Ontario — were without power. At 9:15 p.m., 952,346 Hydro Quebec customers were still groping in the dark.
A total of 20 to 25 millimeters of freezing rain fell on Gatineau, slightly more than Montreal, which received 15 to 25 millimeters, according to preliminary data from Environment Canada.
This bears no relation to the 1998 ice storm, when affected sectors suffered an average of 78mm.
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Due to the ice storm, a tree fell on Bernard Meloche’s car and home in Gatineau Photo: Radio-Canada / Courtesy: Bernard Meloche
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A buildup of ice broke tree branches and caused power outages, the government agency warned on its website.
Hydro-Québec technicians on site
A crisis team has been set up at Hydro-Québec, spokeswoman Caroline Desrosiers said in an interview with ICI RDI.
Hydro-Québec meteorologists have been monitoring the situation for several days, which has enabled Crown Corporation to deploy teams of technicians to the various affected regions on Tuesday, Ms Desrosiers explained.
« The shifts of our line workers today [n’ont pas pris fin] at 5pm like a normal day but at 11pm so we fall into an emergency response approach. »
— A quote from Maxence Huard-Lefebvre, spokesman for Hydro-Québec
Hydro-Québec is also reminding citizens to keep their distance when observing dangerous situations such as wires, poles or other devices on the ground. It is best to report them to 911 and teams will be dispatched to secure the premises.
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Wednesday’s storm left its mark on the Lachine neighborhood of Montreal Photo: Radio-Canada / Josée Marie Robitaille
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Two Montreal school boards closed Thursday
In addition, the Montreal School Service Centers (CSSDM) and Pointe-de-l’Île (CSSPI) have announced that all of their schools, daycare centers and administrative centers will be closed Thursday due to power outages and the uncertainty that electricity will be restored.
No course or distance learning is planned for all students in the primary, secondary and adult sectors, adds the CSSDM press release.
The ice storm also affected flights at Montreal Airport. As many as 112 flights — 51 arriving and 61 departing — out of a total of 485 scheduled flights (or 23%) were canceled today, says communications consultant Eric Forest. He specifies that these are domestic and international flights.
Aéroports de Montréal always recommends travelers to check their flight schedules with their airline before traveling to the airport, regardless of the prevailing conditions. That advice is all the more important in episodes like the one we know today, he added.
Weather conditions also forced the closure of Victoria Bridge in both directions.
A system that comes “from afar”.
The system [arrive] From far away it goes up from Lake Superior towards James Bay, explained André Quentin, meteorologist at Environment Canada, in an interview with ICI RDI.
The warm front in front of it will turn into precipitation and finally into freezing rain, sums up the expert.
There are also northeast winds that reach 30 to 60 km/h. However, winds are expected to ease somewhat later in the evening before turning to the southwest, he added.
Several regions of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were also subject to freezing rain warnings.
Environment Canada announces a significant increase in temperature for Thursday.