Mixture of rain and freezing rain soaks Ottawa and region

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Icy rain causes travel headaches in Ottawa

Caught on camera: Sparks seen on wires on O-Train Line 1

Wednesday 6 p.m. weather update

Freezing rain in the forecast

City Roads Manager on ice storm response

Tuesday 6 p.m. weather update

Ottawa and the region were under a freezing rain warning Wednesday, with a significant ice storm in the forecast.

Environment Canada warned of a prolonged event that could last up to 24 hours in some areas, with ice accretion of between 10 and 20 millimetres. Amounts of 20 to 30 mm are forecast in parts of western and southern Quebec.

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Here’s what you need to know:

• Freezing rain began falling in Ottawa around 8 a.m. and in Gatineau around 9 a.m.
• School buses are cancelled across eastern Ontario and western Quebec
• Schools are closed in Gatineau
• OC Transpo is warning customers to expect delays
• O-Train Line 1 service is running between Tunney’s Pasture and uOttawa stations
• R1 bus service is running between Rideau and Blair stations
• O-Train Lines 2 and 4 will operate as regularly scheduled.
• All Ottawa Public Library branches will be closed until noon, but the Metcalfe and Munster branches will be closed all day

Follow along for live updates throughout the day:

8:50 p.m.

This concludes our coverage of the freezing rain in Ottawa on Wednesday.

As of 8:50 p.m., the orange warning – freezing rain is still in effect, and Environment Canada’s weather forecast predicts periods of rain and freezing rain to continue well past midnight.

According to Hydro Quebec, 15,173 homes are without power in the Outaouais region.

--Adam Beauchemin, CTV News Ottawa

7:41 p.m.

According to Hydro Quebec, there are 22,306 homes in the Outaouais region without power, with 14,202 of them being located in Gatineau.

--Adam Beauchemin, CTV News Ottawa

6:46 p.m.

In a statement released Wednesday evening, OC Transpo interim general manager Troy Charter said technicians are working to repair damages to the overhead system of the O-Train Line 1.

The repairs will likely continue into Thursday morning’s “peak period” and replacement bus service will continue to be provided between Rideau and Blair stations.

--Adam Beauchemin, CTV News Ottawa

5:06 p.m.

Many of the power outages in the Pontiac area have been resolved, but Hydro Quebec there are currently 7,741 outages across the Outaouais region.

While over 4,000 homes in Pontiac were without power this afternoon, only 202 homes in the region currently have no power.

In Gatineau, 4,882 addresses have no power.

In Papineau, 1,919 homes are without power.

--Adam Beauchemin, CTV News Ottawa

2:42 p.m.

In a post on social media, the Ottawa Senators said they will be opening the doors early for tonight’s game at the Canadian Tire Centre due to the weather. The game begins at 7:30 p.m. and ticketholders will be allowed into the building after 4 p.m.

“Fans with tickets to the game are welcome to arrive early. Please drive safely!” the organization wrote.

--Adam Beauchemin, CTV News Ottawa

2:02 p.m.

According to Hydro Quebec, 4,131 addresses in the Pontiac area are without power. Hydro Quebec says there are eight service interruptions causing the outages.

There are 29 other addresses in the rest of the Outaouais region without power.

--Adam Beauchemin, CTV News Ottawa

1:50 p.m.

Speaking at a media availability at Ottawa City Hall, interim general manager of Transit Services Troy Charter said the disruption on O-Train Line 1 east of uOttawa Station was likely related to the weather.

“It’s early but it does appear that it’s likely related to the weather. When you get into these extreme weather events with the freezing rain, it’s a challenge for overhead catenary systems like we have here,” he said.

“There’s technicians on two trains at Lees Station. They’re currently managing the situation right now.”

Images from the scene show damage to the overhead wires on the line.

--Ted Raymond, CTV News Ottawa

12:49 p.m.

OC Transpo launched R1 bus service between Rideau and Blair stations due to a stopped train.

Line 1 service is running in both directions between Tunney’s Pasture and uOttawa stations, but is not running east of uOttawa.

--Ted Raymond, CTV News Ottawa

12:30 p.m.

OC Transpo reported a stopped train on O-Train Line 1 between uOttawa and Hurdman Stations.

Service at uOttawa, Lees, and Hurdman was moved to westbound platforms only.

OC Transpo did not immediately say why the train had stopped.

--Ted Raymond, CTV News Ottawa

11:45 a.m.

Travellers tell CTV News Ottawa the late start to the freezing rain meant it was a smooth commute in on Wednesday morning.

Cathy Archer-Costello took the bus in from Stittsville and said, “It was absolutely empty today.” She is worried about the commute home. “Absolutely, 100 per cent and I hope to leave early but we will see how it goes… My buses are very limited, so I just took what I normally take, and fingers crossed for the way home.”

The clear roads also took Corwin Patrick by surprise. “It was good... it seems pretty fine and the buses are all running on time.” As for a different commute home, he says, “hopefully not.”

CTV News also spoke to Coun. David Hill at Tunney’s Pasture Station on his way to city council. He says he is worried about freezing rain because he doesn’t want to see people “unsafe.” He also encourages people to take public transit or “ideally people work from home.”

He says people’s concern over light rail transit working during a storm like the one forecasted is merited. “I am frustrated like everyone else. We have put in an audit request couple of weeks ago. The buses are slowly coming in from a procurement perspective; we have a transit committee meeting tomorrow and in-camera meeting on transit today. I can assure you that transit commission and councillors are pushing to get improvements on the buses.”

OC Transpo confirmed with CTV News that crews have sprayed de-icing liquid on the overhead power lines to stop ice from forming. Some trains will also run with special equipment that scrapes ice off the wires as the trins move along.

--Leah Larocque, CTV News Ottawa

11 a.m.

The temperature was -2 C in Environment Canada’s 11 a.m. reading at the Ottawa airport, with light freezing rain. At the Gatineau airport, the temperature had risen to 0 C with light freezing rain.

City of Ottawa roads manager Bryden Denyes told Newstalk 580 CFRA’s Ottawa at Work with Patricia Boal that teams pre-salted roads early Wednesday morning ahead of the rain.

He says conditions on the road will depend on the temperature.

“When we look at the fine line of that temperature, that one degree difference makes a world of change for us. If it goes a bit colder, we’ll definitely be looking at some freezing rain. The ground is hovering around plus one right now, so it’s a little bit warmer than the air temperature, which is our friend right now. We’ll continue monitoring that for the drive home,” he said.

Denyes said teams will be prepared for the afternoon commute.

“By this afternoon, if we do get a bit of freezing rain, our main roads should be in pretty good shape. It’ll be when do we get into residential streets if we have that freezing rain? That’ll be the challenge. If anybody is out there walking, cycling, or driving, definitely observe those conditions and be prepared for stuff to take a bit longer.”

--Ted Raymond, CTV News Ottawa

10:40 a.m.

Environment Canada emergency preparedness meteorologist Geoff Coulson told Newstalk 580 CFRA’s Ottawa at Work with Patricia Boal that there will be a gap between two bands of freezing rain that will affect the Ottawa region.

“There is a band of freezing rain moving through the area right now. That band is likely to diminish over the course of the next couple of hours, maybe down to some patchy freezing drizzle,” Coulson said. “But there is another shot of freezing rain off to the west. Right now it’s centering in the Georgian Bay and the Greater Toronto Area, so maybe a gap of a couple of hours of lighter or more freezing drizzle precipitation and then back to more freezing rain this afternoon.”

Coulson says the temperature in Ottawa is expected to remain below freezing through the day.

“I think with the gap that we’re seeing right now, there’s still the potential for local ice accretion of 10 millimetres, which could still result in notable impacts on the electrical infrastructure,” he said. “The drive home this evening is going to be impacted by freezing rain falling during the evening drive home.”

Coulson says the temperature could rise closer to the freezing mark in the evening, which could shift what’s falling into rain. The system is expected to move out of the region overnight.

--Ted Raymond, CTV News Ottawa

10:25 a.m.

Hydro One is reporting power outages in eastern Ontario.

The utility says it is seeing numerous outages in parts of eastern Ontario due to the weather, including around 600 near Killaloe, around 6,100 in areas such as Minden and Kinmount, and around 5,400 in the Dorset area, south of Algonquin Park.

Hydro One is reporting 244 outages across its network, affecting more than 34,000 customers.

“Crews are responding to outages as safely and quickly as possible as severe storms move through central parts of eastern Ontario. We anticipate additional outages as freezing rain and high winds are expected to continue into tomorrow,” Hydro One says on its website.

--Ted Raymond, CTV News Ottawa

9:29 a.m.

Several flight cancellations have been reported at the Ottawa airport.

At least 20 departures and arrivals were listed on the airport’s website Wednesday morning.

“Ottawa has freezing rain in the forecast for Wednesday, March 11. It’s a good idea to check the status of your flight before coming to the airport. Give yourself extra time to make your way here,” the airport says.

--Ted Raymond, CTV News Ottawa

9:21 a.m.

OPP say a driver on Highway 417 was clocked at 156 km/h as the freezing rain was falling shortly before 9 a.m.

“Freezing rain has started falling in Ottawa, but this driver thought it would be a good idea to drive 156km/h,” Const. Michael Fathi said on X.

“The driver received an immediate 30-day driving suspension and a 14-day vehicle impound. The driver now faces a minimum $2,000 fine, six demerit points and a one year driving prohibition upon conviction.”

--Ted Raymond, CTV News Ottawa

Police are urging drivers to avoid unnecessary travel, and to slow down and adjust to conditions if they must drive.

“In addition to ice build-up, watch for other hazards on the roads, such as tree limbs, trees or even power lines. If debris is blocking a roadway, call the local municipality. If you see a fallen power line, stay away and call Hydro One immediately at 1-800-434-1235,” police said.

--Ted Raymond, CTV News Ottawa

8:02 a.m.

Environment Canada reported “light freezing rain” at the Ottawa airport just after 8 a.m., with a temperature of -1 C.

Conditions were cloudy with a temperature of 0 C at the Gatineau airport at 8 a.m., according to the forecaster.

--Ted Raymond, CTV News Ottawa

7:32 a.m.

Algonquin College says its on-campus, in-person morning classes have been cancelled at all of its campuses due to the forecast, but afternoon classes are currently scheduled to proceed.

An update will be provided at 10:30 a.m. on the status of afternoon classes.

The campuses remain open.

--Ted Raymond, CTV News Ottawa

7:20 a.m.

Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips tells CTV Your Morning Ottawa it may take one or two days to recover from the system that is moving slowly across the region.

“We’re going to see major and widespread impacts for people, places and things. Property damage, possibly,” he said. “And it’s going to have a length of impact. It’s going to be one or two days before we get back to normal.”

Phillips says he expects about 14 hours of freezing rain throughout the day with moderate to strong winds.

“That provides a lot more stress on the surfaces — the wires, the tree branches. More wind stress could weight it down and cause breakage there.”

He says temperatures could rise above the freezing mark at around 8 p.m., which would mean a transition to rain mixed with freezing rain until the overnight hours into Thursday morning.

“And then it turns cooler. We’re going to see snow flurries for most of tomorrow.”

--Ted Raymond, CTV News Ottawa

7 a.m.

School transportation authorities across eastern Ontario and western Quebec have cancelled school bus service.

Schools remain open in Ottawa, but are closed in Gatineau.

--Ted Raymond, CTV News Ottawa

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