Snow and freezing rain return to parts of Ontario; more power outages possible

Ontario communities hit hard by a weekend ice storm braced for another round of gusty winds and freezing rain on Wednesday as a massive spring storm descended on Central Canada.

More than 192,000 Ontario homes and businesses were in the dark as the storm moved across parts of the province, threatening to slow recovery efforts, expand power outages and further damage weakened trees.

Britany Burnside, who was without grid power from early Saturday until Tuesday morning, was on her way to Costco Wednesday to stock up on essentials in anticipation of the storm.

“We’re going to go stock up on water and soup, because that was one of the things we were lacking after a couple of days,” said Burnside, who lives in a small community near Georgian Bay.

A short supply of fuel and food in some hard-hit communities around Ontario’s cottage country prompted police to tell travellers to avoid the area. Meanwhile flood warnings were issued by several local conservation authorities as heavy rains were expected to roll off the already saturated ground and into swelling rivers.

Burnside said trees felled by the weekend ice storm still lined the roads.

“It honestly looks like a tornado went through everywhere,” she said.

Weather warnings issued by Environment Canada cover most of Ontario, ranging from snowfall in the north to rainfall and freezing rain across the south and east. Freezing rain warnings were also in place for large parts of Quebec, where the storm was expected to advance by Wednesday night.

“We’re looking at pretty much every type of severe weather you can think of being associated with this one system,” said Geoff Coulson, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada.

Hydro One says crews have been working around the clock since the last storm blew through to restore power to hundreds of thousands of homes.

“This is the worst storm we’ve experienced since the ice storm in 1998 and the damage is severe and widespread,” spokesperson Tiziana Baccega Rosa said in a statement, adding that Wednesday’s storm could slow restoration efforts and cause additional outages.

In an update later on Wednesday, Hydro One said crews have restored power to more than 80 per cent of affected customers.

“We expect restoration in the hardest hit areas to continue throughout the week, with most customers back online by the weekend,” it said.

Freezing rain was expected to be felt hardest in some of the communities still reeling from last weekend.

Environment Canada said Wednesday’s storm would not be “nearly as significant” as the recent ice storm but warned areas around Georgian Bay to Peterborough could see between four and eight millimetres of ice buildup, combined with gusting winds.

Mayor Don McIsaac of Orillia, which remained under a local state of emergency, said he was relieved the worst of the ice storm was behind them but told residents to stay alert.

“The city is actively preparing for this and will continue to adapt as the situation evolves,” he said in a statement.

Ontario Provincial Police told “non-local residents” to avoid several communities in and around cottage country, including Orillia, Bracebridge, Huntsville, Haliburton, Peterborough and Kawartha Lakes. Communities were dealing with shortages of food, fuel and other essential supplies, police said.

Areas from Windsor to Toronto could see between 30 to 50 millimetres of rain. Those totals could be higher in some areas due to the risk of damaging thunderstorms, with possible wind gusts up to 90 km/h.

Snow and ice pellets were expected to advance Wednesday afternoon on eastern and northern Ontario, including Ottawa and areas from Sudbury north to Wawa, before flipping to freezing rain later in the day, Environment Canada said.

Thunder Bay could see up to 30 centimetres of snow, heavy at times, with between 15 and 20 centimetres in the forecast for areas toward the Manitoba border.

Jill Dunlop, Ontario’s emergency preparedness minister, said the province’s volunteer Ontario Corps had helped conduct more than 2,000 wellness checks and distributed hygiene kits.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 2, 2025.

Jordan Omstead and Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press