A powerful winter storm swept through the Ottawa-Gatineau region on Tuesday morning, leaving tens of thousands without electricity and snarling highway traffic for hours as blowing snow and dangerous wind gusts pounded the area.
Nearly 60,000 customers, served by Hydro One and Ottawa Hydro, lost power as of 9 a.m. Tuesday. The restoration timeline remained uncertain as crews worked in difficult conditions.
Dangerous Wind Gusts
Wind gusts reached up to 100 km/h in Prince Edward County, with 80 km/h recorded near waterways and 70 km/h in Ottawa and surrounding communities. That level of sustained wind is enough to bring down trees, tear off shingles, and topple power lines, and it did.
Visibility dropped sharply across multiple highways as blowing snow created near-whiteout conditions, particularly on Highway 401 near Kingston.
Highway Closures
Several sections of Highway 401 were shut down Tuesday morning:
- Westbound: Closed between Palace Road and Centre Street near Napanee, at Gardiners Road in Kingston, and at County Road 2 near Gananoque
- Eastbound: Closed from Gardiners Road to Camden East Road due to road conditions
Highway 17 near Pembroke also had a single-lane closure following a collision. Highways 5, 50, and 148 in Quebec were also affected by blowing snow.
Getting Around Ottawa
Ottawa Hydro and Hydro One both urged customers to treat downed power lines as live and dangerous, stay at least 10 metres back and call 911 immediately if you spot one.
Despite the conditions, local school bus services were not cancelled as of Tuesday morning.
If you lost power, Ottawa Hydro's outage map is available online at ottawahydro.com, where you can also report outages and check estimated restoration times.
Drive only if essential today, and if you must be on the road, slow down and leave extra space between vehicles, especially near areas where snow drifts may reduce visibility to near zero.
Source: CBC Ottawa
