Rain and snow hit parts of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick
Rain and wet snow are sweeping through parts of Atlantic Canada, Ontario and Quebec, where Hydro-Québec reports more than 28,000 customers are without power.
The winter may have been mild in Ontario, but it's going out strong, with snow in some areas and wind and rain in many others.
Ottawa-area residents woke up to strong winds, ice pellets and some flurries Monday morning, as the temperature hovered around 0 C. By midday, the ice and snow had turned to rain in many areas, but Environment Canada cautioned that rain mixed with wet snow could return overnight.
Southern Ontario was also dealing with a wet and windy morning, CBC weather specialist Jay Scotland said.
"I was in flip-flops a week ago and now I had to pull out the boots. Not happy," Toronto resident Ally Mixemong said.
Snow accumulation isn't expected in the Toronto area, but the snow could stick around in areas north of the Haliburton Highlands or along the escarpment, he said.
But the cold weather isn't covering the whole province — in Thunder Bay, it was mainly sunny and 14 C.
The wet, blustery weather conditions led to power outages in many parts of Quebec, but 165 crews were out trying to deal with the outages, Hydro-Québec said Monday afternoon.
As of 1 p.m. ET, 28,341 customers were without power. Twenty-thousand of those customers were in the Quebec City region, where wind and rain warnings were in effect.
Wind and rain were the issue in Montreal, but some parts of the province were bracing for another blast of winter-like weather.
"In an axis between Abitibi and Manicouagan, we expect however that the snowfalls will be significant beginning this afternoon," Environment Canada said in a statement early Monday.
In New Brunswick, heavy rain was hitting a large swath of the province, prompting Environment Canada to issue weather warnings for several communities.
Two school districts were closed because of freezing rain and people were being urged to monitor weather statements.
A rainfall warning was also in effect over southwestern Nova Scotia, with up to 55 millimetres forecast for Monday and Tuesday.
The cold, windy weather is also being felt in communities south of the border. Driving wind and rain were hammering some communities along the U.S. East Coast, while heavy snow was expected in some parts of the northeast.
Travellers flying through those parts of the U.S. are being advised to check their flight status before heading to the airport.
Not all Canadians were dealing with chilly, wet weather. In parts of Alberta, temperatures were expected to creep up to the mid-to-high 20s on Monday. Parts of Saskatchewan and Manitoba were also expected to be into the 20s later in the day, Environment Canada said.
