Snow caused power outages, school closures in Quebec

A total of 85,000 customers were without power in Quebec after snow lashed the province on Thursday.

More than 20 centimeters of snow fell at Montreal-Trudeau Airport and more than 30 centimeters in downtown Montreal.

“In several places, power lines were down due to gusts of wind or the weight of broken tree branches,” Hydro-Québec noted. “We are deploying all available crews to work on the recovery as quickly as possible.”

As of 8:15 p.m., 85,019 customers were without power, according to Hydro-Québec.

The hardest hit regions are Laurentians (32,631), Ottawa (11,086), Laval (10,639) and Monteregi (10,595). In Montreal, 4,243 Hydro-Quebec customers are still in the dark.

“It is critical for public safety that people stay away from power lines,” Crown Corporation said. “If you see power lines on the ground, stay away from the area and call 911 to secure the area.”

According to Hydro-Québec, part of the problem is the consistency of the snowfall.

“The snow is three to six times heavier than usual, so it certainly affects the trees. Branches broke, fell and caused outages in our network,” said Cendrix Bouchard, a representative of Hydro. Quebec.

A pedestrian crosses a street through snow as a spring storm dumped more than 20 cm of snow in Montreal, Thursday, April 4, 2024. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press)At the peak of the outage, Bouchard says 600,000 customers were affected.

Among them, the utility company says that about 400,000 connections have been restored.

“Some people will have to wait until tomorrow,” Bouchard admitted, but he said Crown Corporation believes most people should have their power back by the end of the day.

“There are 1,200 people there as we speak. “We knew the weather was coming and we prepared and deployed our staff as soon as possible.”

The snow is expected to start melting over the next few days as warmer weather is forecast for the weekend.

Hydro-Québec adds that people “must not use outdoor equipment and appliances indoors at all,” as wood-burning heaters, lamps, generators and portable outdoor stoves can cause suffocation or poisoning if used indoors.

Snow in April is not unusual, CTV News' Lori Graham noted.

Montreal typically sees about 13 cm of snow during the month, and the largest single-day snowfall was 33.9 cm on April 9, 2000.

A man shovels snow to clear his car in Montreal (CTV News)

School closures

• Central service center school de Laval
• Center de services scolaire des Affluents
• Center de Services scolaire des Mille-Îles
• Center de Services scolaire des Samares
• Lester B. Pearson School Board
• Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board

Riverside School Board

• Cortland Park International School
• Harold Napper School
• Mountainview School

Kindergarten

• CPE les Bois Verts
• CPE dollars
• CPE Hebrew Foundation
• CPE Lachine

Additional closures

• Fournier Academy Center
• Center d'Integration Scolaire Inc.
• Greaves Adventist Academy
• Jewish Foundation School
• JEM workshop
• Marianopolis College
• Miss Edgars and Miss Cramps School
• Peter Hall School
• Rotevennahete School
• Ratihente:te High School
• Sacred Heart School
• Summit School
• Avant-garde school

Trafalgar Girls School says it starts the day late, at 10am

The school notes that “doors and screening will be normal for anyone who arrives early. Regular classes will be held on a modified schedule.”