A powerful winter storm that hit Eastern Canada Saturday night has grounded dozens of flights and left thousands of people without power, with more of the same dangerous mix of snow, rain and ice pellets expected to wreak havoc over the rest of the weekend.
Holiday travellers are being urged to check their flight status before heading out to the airport as several travel advisories are in effect.
Air Canada is warning of possible further flight delays at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, where there have already been some cancellations as result of poor weather conditions.
At Montreal's Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport many flights on Saturday were delayed or cancelled. Air Canada says it's waiving rebooking fees for cancelled flights.
Roughly 28,000 customers in southern Ontario were without power Saturday night, concentrated in the Kingston and Toronto areas, according to Ontario's Hydro One. (See Hydro One map for latest.)
Spokeswoman Marylena Stea said hydro crews will be on stand-by all weekend.
"We were anticipating some major weather this weekend, and it's starting to hit in a lot of areas in the province," she said.
Environment Canada urged residents in Ontario and Atlantic Canada to make the necessary preparations in case of power outages.
"This will be one of the most heaviest ice rains or freezing rains we have seen in decades," David Phillips, a climatologist with Environment Canada, told CTV’s Mike Walker earlier on Saturday. "So I think it's important to be respectful of it and make sure you don’t do anything foolish."
Phillip says areas north of Toronto will likely see between 20 and 30 millimetres of rain.
"That’s a concern. This is the kind of precipitation -- the freezing rain, the freezing drizzle -- that actually can cling. As soon as it falls, it spreads out into a thin veneer, the hardest ice that nature can produce," Phillips said. "And it can collect on wires, it’s very adhesive, it's tenacious, you can’t break it way … And the worry is we’ll see some power outages, some branches go down. It’s the loss of power that has lots of officials worried."
In Quebec, authorities say hazardous road conditions may have played a role in highway accidents that left three people dead. Up to 30 centimetres of snow mixed with ice pellets is expected over the weekend in Montreal and its surrounding areas.
Further east, freezing rain and snowfall are expected to significantly impact Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
Up to 40 millimetres of freezing rain and rain could fall over parts of Nova Scotia beginning overnight Saturday and lasting for 12 hours, Environment Canada warns.
Road conditions in affected areas were hazardous as a result of the storm, with motorists and pedestrians advised to “exercise caution and adjust plans accordingly,” the national weather agency said.
Meanwhile, current weather conditions are hampering efforts to dismantle a construction crane damaged by a massive fire in Kingston, Ont., Tuesday.
Work crews have been slowed considerably, authorities say, as snow and rain falls in the eastern Ontario city.
For information on how to be prepared for an ice storm, click here.
With files from The Canadian Press
