Rain and wind knock out power for nearly 70K Quebecers, more wet weather on the way

Nearly 70,000 Hydro-Quebec customers lost power Monday after rain and strong wind gusts pounded parts of the province.

As of 2:00 p.m. Monday, the bulk of the outages were in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean (22,000), Quebec City (9,000), and the Laurentians (8,000). In Montreal, about 250 customers were in the dark.

Hydro-Quebec spokesperson Francis Labbé said the outages were caused by rain and gusting wind that brought tree branches into contact with its network.

He said crews are working to repair the 518 outages across the province.

Several rivers and lakes in Quebec remained under special surveillance by public security Monday morning as weather forecasts predicted rainfall for days in various areas of the province.

On Monday morning, one sizable flood was observed, at Quesnel Bay on the Ottawa River in Rigaud, in the Montérégie region.

A dozen minor floods were reported, and in almost all cases, public safety indicated that waters were rising. This was notably the case on some of the shores of Lake Deux-Montagnes in the Montreal area and Lake Maskinongé in the Mauricie region, as well as near the Petite Nation and Ottawa rivers, the Rivière des Prairies and on the shores of the Rivière Noire and the Ouareau River.

A handful of other lakes and rivers were also being monitored.

• SEE THE MAP: Quebec areas experiencing flooding and under flood watch right now

Rainfall warnings issued by Environment Canada for the beginning of the week remained in effect Monday morning in several regions: Outaouais, Lanaudière, The Laurentians, Montérégie, Mauricie, Centre-du-Québec, Quebec City and Charlevoix.

The commission was also forecasting minor flooding in flood-prone areas along the river between Gatineau and Montreal.

Homes along the Ottawa river in the town of Rigaud, Que., just west of the island of Montreal, are on high alert with a total of 30 to 50 millimeter's of rain expected from Sunday evening into Monday. Homes are already threatened by high water levels along the river on Sunday, April 30, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter McCabe

MONTREAL WEEKLONG FORECAST

The large low-pressure system bringing rain into Southwestern Quebec will continue to bring rounds of wet weather through the first part of the week, with below-average temperatures.

Montreal is expected to see about 10mm of rain on Monday, with wind gusts up to 60km/h.

#RainfallWarning still in effect. #Montreal could see ~10mm of rain on Mon, another 10 on Tues & another 10 on Wednesday. @CTVMontreal pic.twitter.com/tbGYTc1cQa

— Lori Graham (@LGrahamCTV) May 1, 2023

Although precipitation will gradually become more scattered on Tuesday and Wednesday, there is still the potential for up to another 10 to 20 mm of rain.

Sunshine will return at the end of the week, and temperatures will be above average for the first weekend of May. 

Seven Day Forecast for Montreal starting Monday, May 1, 2023.

-- Published with files from The Canadian Press and CTV's Lori Graham.