TORONTO (AP) — A major winter storm that hit Ontario and Quebec on Friday caused widespread flight cancellations and school closures, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of customers Friday, and an Environment Canada meteorologist warned of a possible single occurrence. meteorological event of the decade.
Environment Canada forecast high winds, heavy snow and possible flash frosts, issuing winter storm warnings for the vast majority of Ontario and Quebec.
“We may only see one of these storms every five to 10 years,” said Environment Canada meteorologist Mitch Meredith. “I’ve only seen a couple storms like this in the last 20 years.”
Environment Canada said flash frosts are likely as rain turned to heavy snow Friday in parts of southern Ontario, creating dangerous driving conditions.
Ontario Provincial Police closed Highway 401 west of London on Friday morning after reporting multiple collisions. Meanwhile, strong winds began to wreak havoc on provincial public services. Hydro Quebec said the blackouts were affecting more than 225,000 customers.
Hydro One, Ontario’s largest utility, said about 45,000 customers were without power as of 11 am Hydro Ottawa said 25,000 customers were without power, mainly due to downed lines at branches. In Quebec, many regions were expected to receive a combination of heavy snow, rain, and high winds.
The storm disrupted the vacation travel plans of thousands of people, as airlines preemptively canceled flights and more disruptions were expected.
WestJet, Canada’s second-largest airline, announced Thursday night that it would cancel flights at airports in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia. It announced 300 “proactive” flight cancellations Friday for BC, southern Ontario and Quebec due to bad weather. That brought the airline’s total cancellations since Monday to 1,196, according to an emailed statement.
Air Canada said Friday it had canceled “several flights” in Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto, including all its flights from Toronto’s central island airport, citing the storm, reduced airport capacity and operating restrictions.
Rob Milton, who was traveling with his wife, said their flight to Quebec was canceled Friday morning from Toronto’s Pearson Airport, throwing off the couple’s plans to celebrate Christmas in Quebec City. “We had a hotel in Quebec booked; we had to cancel it. We had restaurants; We had to cancel those. We had the whole weekend planned out,” he said at the airport.
Daniel Araya, who was traveling with his family from Chile to Vancouver, got stuck at Pearson after their fight was delayed due to weather.
“We really hope for a Christmas miracle,” he said. “We spent a long time getting here and it will be very sad if we can’t make it to Vancouver to see my sister.”
The Toronto Transit Commission has shut down 41 bus stops in mountainous areas that are difficult to navigate in snow and icy conditions. GO Transit, which serves the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area, has canceled express trains and reduced train service during rush hour.
