More than 172,000 Quebec homes without power after heavy snowfall

Snowy roads, and power outages. Even though it’s only November, Quebec woke up Tuesday to a winter wonderland.

After the first snowflakes fell on Sunday, a full weather cocktail swept across the province Monday evening and overnight, likely disrupting the start of the day in many places.

Trees and branches pulled down in many parts of the province, knocking people off the grid — and many schools closed.

“That’s a lot of snow and I think it’s a little early this year,” Montrealer Alberto Calero told CityNews.

“You have to be ready for anything. So thankfully I brought out my winter gear from underneath my bed earlier this weekend. And yeah, who knew that I would need it this morning?”

Montreal hasn’t seen its first 15 cm snowfall this early in the year since Nov. 17, 2002, says Julien Pellerin, a meteorologist for Environment and Climate Change Canada. Montreal usually receives its first 15 cm of snow in December or January.

“Fortunately, the snow that we will have today will be a little bit lighter because the temperature, well, the mean temperature in the atmosphere will be a little bit colder,” Pellerin said.

“That’s the will of the nature. We had a major system that formed with the contrast of temperature between the Atlantic Ocean and the cold temperature over the continent. And that specific system tracked along the coast, which means Montreal happened to be in the region of the snow of the system. So that’s why we had that snow earlier in the year. It’s not exceptional. It’s early in the season, but it’s not exceptional.”

Hundreds of thousands of Quebecers woke up without electricity. Around 5 a.m., Hydro-Québec reported that more than 360,000 of its customers were without power. Just before 11 a.m. that number was down to just under 339,000 affected customers, and around 4:30 p.m. it was close to 200,000. Then down to 173,000 around 5:30 p.m.

Hydro says it could until Wednesday for customers to get back on the grid. They have over 400 crews working on restoring power.

Paule Veilleux-Turcotte, a spokesperson for the utility, said about 1,000 workers were out restoring power. A “large number” of the outages should be resolved by late Tuesday, although some were expected to stretch into the next day.

Philippe Sabourin, a spokesperson for the City of Montreal, says city crews are helping to clear snow from about 11,000 kilometres of street sidewalks, as well as to remove fallen tree branches.

Sabourin adds no snow removal has been planned yet, as warmer temperatures are expected in the coming days.

“We’re working closely with Hydro-Québec, working with those branches, with those power outages, so everyone’s on duty,” he said. “Tree trimmers are on duty and they’re working closely with Hydro-Québec in order to secure those branches.

“Feel free to call the 311 if there’s branches on the street or on the sidewalks. If there’s a cable for electricity, of course, you will call directly 911.”

In terms of power outages, Montérégie region was by far the most affected, with over 113,000 addresses impacted. By Tuesday afternoon, that number was still close to 90,000. In Lanaudière, nearly 80,000 homes were without power. That number fell to 57,000 later in the day.

As of 2 p.m., Montreal (16,200), Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean (35,271), Centre-du Québec (25,869), Laurentians (15,310) , Laval (4,306), and Mauricie (2,548) were also among the regions most affected.

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Snowfall has created slippery road conditions before the province’s Dec. 1 deadline for drivers to install winter tires. 

In Montreal, officials in the Sud-Ouest borough asked the population for patience, noting that snow removal contracts normally only start on Nov. 15. Some heavy equipment has yet to be converted from street cleaning to snow removal setup, it added in a social media message.

The borough also asked people to be careful on the roads, noting that the “fairy tale landscape” can bring slippery streets and unexpected snow dumps from trees.

“It’s a bit of a shock,” said Montrealer Loren Williams. “We go from Halloween to suddenly, boom, middle of winter. But honestly, it’s gorgeous. I’ve been out for a couple of hours walking in the park and it’s stunningly beautiful and the leaves are on the trees.”

But despite the inconveniences, some Montrealers were delighted with the postcard-pretty blanket of snow that covered the city.

Sara Najafi described the snow as “really amazing,” especially compared to the light dustings she’s used to seeing in her native Iran.

She said she’s looking forward to winter hikes, and taking a trip up Mount Royal to look at the city from above.

Sally Beaumont, a South Shore resident who traveled to Montreal to attend the Remembrance Day ceremony, said she woke up to an “eerie light in the air.”

“I woke up I thought it must be very early, and I looked outside and there was this complete white landscape,” she said. “It was beautiful.”

Snow and rain

According to data updated Tuesday morning by Environment Canada, most regions have received 10 to 20 centimetres of snow since Sunday.

The federal agency noted that in regions north of the St. Lawrence River, snow accumulated, while to the south, it gave way to a mix of rain and freezing rain.

“Road conditions remain difficult in some areas due to slippery and snow-covered pavement,” reads Environment Canada’s weather summary.

This snowfall comes as many motorists have yet to equip their vehicles with winter tires — which will only become mandatory on Dec. 1 — increasing the risk of vehicles going off the road.

Travellers are advised to check their flight status before heading to the airport, as weather conditions may cause delays or cancellations.

-With files from The Canadian Press