Severe storms strike across Ontario and Quebec with hail, downed trees

It was a wild weather day for many parts of Ontario and Quebec.

Multiple rounds of severe storms prompted tornado watches and warnings across both provinces throughout Thursday afternoon and evening.

A cold front moving eastwards clashed with hot and humid air in the atmosphere, creating copious amounts of thunderstorm energy. Tornado warnings were issued mid afternoon in northern Ontario and many more were prompted across southern Ontario and Quebec as the storms moved through.

Damaging winds, heavy rain, frequent lightning, and large hail accompanied Thursday's storm threat, with reports of downed tree limbs, power outages, and golf ball-sized hail.

Downed tree in Owen Sound as a result of the storms on June 13. (April Walker)

As of Friday morning over 45,000 people were still without power across Ontario due to the storms. The largest swath of outages affected residents around Orillia and Huntsville. An estimated 12,000 residents were similar affected in Quebec.

The thunderstorm risk will continue across parts of Quebec on Friday as the storm system pushes towards the Maritimes, so be sure to stay weather-aware, and up-to-date on all of the watches and warnings in your area.

Here's a closer look at Thursday's storm as they erupted throughout the evening:

Thumbnail image courtesy of Victoria Fenn Alvarado in Peterborough.

*Stay tuned to The Weather Network for more forecast updates for Ontario and Quebec.