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Quebecers heading outside on Monday are being asked to excercise caution as freezing rain that began overnight continues to coat surfaces in ice.
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) has issued an orange weather alert covering much of southern Quebec, with ice expected to build up throughout the day.
The affected areas include the Greater Montreal region, the Outaouais, the Laurentians, Lanaudière, and the Eastern Townships.
ECCC meteorologist Olivier Veer said as much as 15 millimetres of ice could accumulate in some areas.
“We are expecting the freezing rain to continue through the day, it should taper off early in the afternoon,” he said.
Veer, however, noted that the rain will give way to strong winds with gusts of 90 km/hour possible in the Montreal area.
“So that’s going to be a new load of hazard because, you know, there’s going to be lots of ice accumulated on surfaces, on trees and power lines,” Veer said. “And so you’re going to have wind blowing on that. So people should be careful.”
Environment Canada has issued a rare orange-level weather alert for the area, meaning severe weather is likely to cause major damage or disruption that could last a few days.
In addition to ice and branches falling, ECCC is warning of hazardous travel conditions with some walkways and roads frozen over, and the possibility of prolonged power outages.
Urgences-santé said on Monday that it is receiving about 100 calls per hour, mostly related to falls caused by weather conditions. Normally, it receives 70 to 80 calls per hour at most.
Around noon, Hydro-Québec was reporting some power outages, with a little over 25,000 clients affected.
Travel disruptions
Transports Québec spokesperson Sarah Bensadoun is recommending motorists check for road closures or warnings on Quebec 511 before heading out.
“For southern Quebec, there’s only one scenario,” she said, noting that the roads are either partly icy or completely icy.
Bensadoun added drivers might encounter changing road conditions even if travelling on one road, and to exercise caution.
Montreal’s Trudeau airport is advising passengers to check their flights before heading to the airport, with some flights delayed or cancelled.
In a statement to Radio-Canada, Eric Forest, a spokesperson for Aéroports de Montréal, said crews are on the ground doing deicing work but that weather conditions in other areas can lead to flight delays and cancellations in Montreal.
“At 9 a.m. this morning, 12 per cent of the flights scheduled for the day, mainly domestic, had been cancelled by the airlines,” he said.
Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada said in a social media post published on Monday that all city crews have been mobilized to make roads safe “as quickly as possible.”
Residents can report issues with Montreal roadways by dialling 311.
Weather conditions are also causing problems for Montreal commuters hoping to use the REM, with no train service between the Deux-Montagnes and Bois-Franc stations as of 9 a.m. However, service is expected to resume by 2 p.m., and shuttle buses have been deployed in the interim.
Other regions are also reporting travel disruptions. In the Eastern Townships, the Sociéte de transport de Sherbrooke, the city’s public transit agency, announced a temporary shutdown of the network citing adverse weather conditions.
In Quebec City, meanwhile, buses are running but the transit agency said it was on high alert and monitoring the situation.