Wind, rain and wet snow has taken out power to more than 50,000 customers in the Ottawa-Gatineau area and closed some schools in western Quebec.
Snowfall warnings and other weather alerts remain Thursday morning for most of the region.
About 25,000 Hydro-Québec customers didn’t have power as of about 9 a.m. More than 25,000 Hydro One customers in eastern Ontario were in the same boat.
Hydro Ottawa is reporting fewer than 100 customers are out.
Some schools in the Centre de services scolaire au Coeur-des-Vallées are closed because they don’t have power: écoles Adrien-Guillaume in Chénéville, Saint-Cœur-de-Marie in Ripon, des grands-Pins in L’Ange Gardien and de la Montagne in Notre-Dame-de-la-Salette.
The Centre de services scolaire des Draveurs has closed écoles de l’Orée-des-Bois, de la Rose-des-Vents, de la Colline, Sainte-Élisabeth and du Sommet for the same reason.
The Western Québec School Board has closed its Lord Aylmer, Chelsea, Namur and Poltimore schools plus its Western Quebec Career Centre.
The Centre de services scolaire des Portages de l’Outaouais is telling families to watch their email and Mégafon app for closure updates. It has closed écoles des Cavaliers and du Grand-Boisé.
The forecast
Ottawa’s international airport recorded 14.5 millimetres of rain and 9.8 centimetres of snow Wednesday, with more snow forecast Thursday.
The capital, Gatineau and most of eastern Ontario were forecast around 8:30 a.m. to get about five to 10 more centimetres of snow.
The snow is supposed to fade in intensity starting this afternoon.
Ottawa Fire Services has ended its open-air fire ban.
The forecast for areas immediately north and east of Gatineau is for a total of 15 to 20 centimetres of snow, sometimes heavy and wet, plus winds gusting up to 70 kilometres an hour. Relief is expected there this evening.
The Maniwaki area has a similar outlook, but slightly weaker winds and slightly less snow.
The Kingston area could get two to five centimetres of wet snow this morning. The Belleville and Pontiac areas do not have any weather alerts.
School buses cancelled
A crash closed the eastbound lanes of Highway 401 between McConnell Avenue and Boundary Road in Cornwall Thursday morning for about two hours, according to the transportation ministry.
School buses are cancelled Thursday under the STEO and CTSE. They’re partially cancelled under the Tri-Board agency and CTSO.
Renfrew County almost got out unscathed, but isn’t running buses in the Madawaska area.
No bus cancellations have been announced in western Quebec that boards and service centres tie directly to the weather.