Piercing cold across Canada brings heavy snow, leaves thousands in the dark

Much of Canada is experiencing extremely cold temperatures and heavy snowfall as a polar vortex continues to grip the country, prompting warnings and disruptions to travel and power supply.

Prairies

Environment Canada has issued orange warnings for most of Saskatchewan, reporting that numerous towns have broken cold weather records. Meteorologist Brad Vrolijk emphasized the danger of the conditions, stating that skin can freeze in under a couple of minutes, and even a light wind exacerbates the risk.

Saskatoon has activated its winter emergency response plan, which will remain in effect until Wednesday.

Ontario

Officials in Hamilton, London, the Greater Toronto Area, and Kitchener-Waterloo are urging residents to stay home as up to 40 centimetres of snow is expected. Environment Canada’s orange alert for the GTA warns of significantly reduced visibility and strong wind gusts up to 50km/h throughout the day.

Toronto Pearson International Airport cancelled over 60 per cent of its arriving and departing flights between Saturday and Sunday, with another 10 per cent delayed, according to the airport’s website.

Ottawa is forecast to receive 20 centimetres of snow throughout Sunday, tapering to flurries by Monday morning. The City of Ottawa has issued a winter weather street parking ban for Monday, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET. The City of Kingston has declared a “significant weather event,” advising residents to exercise caution and acknowledging potential disruptions to winter maintenance.

Quebec

The Canadian Red Cross has opened an emergency shelter in Côte Saint-Luc, after thousands of residents lost power during the cold snap on Saturday. Hydro-Québec is working to restore power, with some addresses potentially waiting until Monday.

As of 10:30 a.m. ET Sunday, 3,727 of the 13,368 homes affected had their power restored, according to the City of Côte Saint-Luc. Hydro-Québec has attributed some outages to equipment failure, while the cause remains unknown in other areas.

Atlantic provinces

Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro reports that ice removal efforts at the Bay d’Espoir power plant have been successful. Divers used air compressors to clear frazil ice that had blocked the plant’s intake, forcing a shutdown for the first time since 1967.

Power warnings remain in place, with N&L Hydro and Newfoundland Power continuing to ask customers to conserve electricity and prepare for potential rotating outages.