Power restored Sunday after snow-related outages across Quebec

Hydro Quebec employees work on a power line Tuesday, March 21, 2023 in Deux-Montagnes, Que.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

Hydro-Quebec crews gradually restored power Sunday afternoon after a spring snowstorm caused tens of thousands of outages across the province.

 

Fewer than 1,000 customers remained without power Sunday night, compared to more than 30,000 early in the morning.

 

Hydro-Quebec spokesman Jonathan Côté said the weight of the snow caused tree branches to bend and crash into power lines.

 

As of Sunday morning, he did not believe there were many “major repairs” needed to restore power.

 

The Lanaudière and Montérégie regions were particularly affected.

 

Environment Canada reported that several areas had significant snowfall over the past 24 hours, including the Laurentians with 15 to 20 cm and Lanaudière with 20 cm.

 

Some other parts of the province, including the Quebec City and Charlevoix regions, were under snow warnings Sunday morning, but those warnings had all been lifted by late afternoon.

 

In Ontario, the wind caused numerous power outages and left some 30,000 customers without power. About 1,300 of them were still affected Sunday night.

 

The spring storm has left significant snowfall amounts (in cm):
Laurentians: 15 to 20
Lanaudière: 20
Charlevoix: 21
Laurentians Wildlife Reserve: 20
Quebec City: 10 to 15
Abitibi: 10
Mauricie: 5 to 10
Beauce: 5 to 10
Montreal: 5#QCstorm pic.twitter.com/tfl9dUNx67

— ECCC Weather Quebec (@ECCCWeatherQC) March 26, 2023