Heavy snow causes widespread power outages, school closures across Quebec

Environment Canada says it didn’t expect a snow band to shift as far west as it did overnight Monday, dumping up to 20 centimetres of snow on Montreal.

Heavy snow is causing widespread power outages in regions across Quebec, according to Hydro-Quebec on Tuesday.

“Wet, heavy snow combined with strong winds has weakened vegetation, which is falling onto the network,” the Crown corporation states. “We are mobilizing the necessary teams to restore service as soon as possible.”

Hydro-Quebec says it has 800 people on the ground to restore power as soon as possible.

“This snow comes in a little early this year, and there are still quite a few leaves on the trees that make the heavy snow,” Hydro-Quebec’s Cendrix Bouchard told Andrew Carter with CJAD 800. “The snow we’re receiving is very wet and heavy. It causes the branches and the trees to lean on the network. That’s what’s causing those outages.”

According to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), about 20 cm of snow fell in downtown Montreal overnight.

READ MORE: Why Environment Canada got Montreal’s snowstorm forecast wrong

The snowfall resulted in hundreds of 911 calls, primarily for electrical issues, including broken wires and transformer malfunctions.

Anyone flying out of Montreal’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport should check their flight status before leaving home.

10:30 p.m.

Most outages in Montreal are resolved.

Some 99,443 addresses remain without power.

See the regions most heavily affected here:

9:15 p.m.

Outages are slowly resolved throughout the evening, especially in the Montreal area.

Still, some 118,240 addresses are without power.

See the regions most heavily affected here:

7:00 p.m.

Outage numbers dwindled throughout the day, though 136,979 addresses are still without power.

See the regions most heavily affected here:

2:23 p.m.

Outages have dropped by more than 50,000 as the snow begins to taper off.

There are currently 256,619 addresses across Quebec without electricity

See the regions most heavily affected here:

11:39 a.m.

Outage numbers have improved slightly and now stand at 313,731 addresses affected.

See the regions most heavily affected here:

10:11 a.m.

There are currently 360,321 addresses in the dark.

See the regions most heavily affected here:

8:48 a.m.

There are 369,803 homes across Quebec without power.

See the regions most heavily affected here:

7:04 a.m.

The number of clients without power has gone up to 379,390, primarily in the Montérégie region.

See the regions most heavily affected here:

6:16 a.m.

At this time, there are 372,900 addresses without power.

Most of the homes are in the Montérégie region, with 109,569 customers without power.

See the regions most heavily affected here:

School closures

The following schools are closed due to the weather:

Centre de services scolaire des Affluents

• All schools

Centre de services scolaire des Grandes-Seigneuries

• École Saint-Jean-Baptiste

Centre de services scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys

• École des Berges-de-Lachine
• École du Bout-de-l’Isle
• École Dorval-Jean XXIII
• École Gentilly
• Collège Saint-Louis

Centre de services scolaire des Patriotes

• École Arc-en-ciel
• École Aux-Quatre-Vents
• École Carignan-Salières
• École Georges-Étienne-Cartier
• École du Grand-Chêne
• École Jacques-Rocheleau
• École Madeleine-Brousseau
• École Notre-Dame (1 et 2)
• École Orientante l’Impact
• École Paul-Émile-Borduas
• École de la Pommeraie
• École Saint-Charles
• École secondaire de Chambly (Campus de l’école du Boisé ouvert)
• École De Salaberry
• École le Tremplin
• École des Trois-Temps
• Centre de formation professionnelle des Patriotes (CFPP)

Centre de services scolaire de Saint-Hyacinthe

• All schools

English Montreal School Board

• Bancroft Elementary School and MIND High School
• Dalkeith Elementary School
• Lester B Pearson High School

Lester B. Pearson School Board

• Dorval Elementary School
• Forest Hill Junior and Senior elementary schools
• Mount Pleasant Elementary School
• Westwood High School Senior Campus

Riverside School Board

• Harold Sheppard School

Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board

• Laurentian Elementary School
• McCaig Elementary School
• Phoenix Alternative High School
• Rosemere High School
• Saint-Paul Elementary School