Freezing rain, ice and wind: ‘Hazardous’ weather causing power outages, REM interruptions

Thousands of Hydro-Quebec customers were without power on Monday and part of the REM was down as Montreal was under a freezing rain warning.

A mix of freezing rain, ice pellets, and strong winds is threatening to make travel difficult in the Greater Montreal area on Monday.

“Freezing precipitation is expected to give five to 15 millimetres of ice accretion,” Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) states. “In addition, strong southwesterly winds of up to 70 kilometres per hour are expected from the end of the day and until Tuesday.”

The agency adds that gusts of up to 90 kilometres per hour could hit the Montreal and Vaudreuil-Soulanges areas.

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“Roads and walkways will likely become icy and slippery,” ECCC warns. “Travel will likely be hazardous, and some routes will likely be impassable. There may be a significant impact on rush hour traffic.”

Watch this space for regular updates:

2:06 p.m.

Despite the icy conditions outside, Montrealers still braved the weather.

Albert Lee was out for a run without even using Crampons to grip the slippery surfaces.

“I did a little walk and it’s not that bad,” he said, before he decided to go for a run.

Cyclists were also out and about getting around the city on the bike paths.

1:56 p.m.

The REM says normal service has resumed across the entire network.

For much of the day, service between Deux-Montagnes and Bois-Franc stations had been suspended due to the weather.

Pulsar, the REM’s operator, told CTV News that the disruptions were caused by ice accumulation on the overhead electrical wires that power the trains. The ice accumulation was more significant in the northern areas.

The slowdowns on the network happened despite Pulsar operating the trains overnight to limit the amount of ice accumulation on the catenary system, as a preventive measure.

1:06 p.m.

The number of customers without electricity is still hovering around the 21,000 mark into the early afternoon hours.

Cendrix Bouchard, a spokesperson for Hydro-Quebec, says most customers can expect to get their power back by the end of the day.

He says 200 teams of 400 line workers are currently deployed to resolve the approximately 100 outages across Quebec, most of which are caused by vegetation coming in contact with power lines.

“The branches are heavier than usual so with the wind they actually swing a bit more than usual. They come in contact with the network so they break. Sometimes they don’t even have to break, just coming in contact with the lines is a situation where it can create an outage,” said Bouchard.

The Laurentians remain the hardest hit area, with approximately 10,000 households without power.

12:14 p.m.

Environment and Climate Change Canada has ended the freezing rain warning for the Greater Montreal Area.

However, the wind warning is still in effect, with gusts of up to 90 km/h expected later in the day.

11:53 a.m.

Urgences-Santé, the paramedic service for Montreal and Laval, says it is receiving more than one hundred 911 calls per hour due to the weather, and its staff is struggling to keep up with the demand.

Most of the calls are related to slips and falls. It is urging people to only call 911 for life-threatening emergencies.

“Please call 811 for all minor health issues,” the ambulance service said on Facebook.

11:48 a.m.

The REM now says that service between the Deux-Montagnes and Bois-Franc stations will resume at 2 p.m.

The line was supposed to be back up and running by noon.

10:59 a.m.

Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada is urging residents to avoid any non-essential travel and use extra caution on roads and sidewalks due to the weather warnings.

She said on X that residents can report problematic situations by calling 311 or using the 311 Montréal app.

10:57 a.m.

The winter storm is causing disruptions on the Réseau express métropolitain (REM).

The line is closed between the Deux-Montagnes and Bois-Franc stations in both directions due to “weather conditions,” the network said on social media.

Service is scheduled to resume at 12 p.m. The rest of the light-rail line is operational.

The interruption is the second of the morning; the stretch between Deux-Montagnes and Bois-Franc was also stalled at 7:30 a.m.

It started to gradually resume service at 9:20 a.m., only to be interrupted again 15 minutes later.

The REM is offering shuttle buses during the service interruption.

10:42 a.m.

The number of power outages is 22,919 across the province.

The hardest-hit areas are the Laurentians at 10,606 and Montreal at 4,829.

With files from The Canadian Press