Freezing rain warning ends in Ottawa, Gatineau
Special weather statement about lingering effects of ice storm in effect for Cornwall, Brockville area
A freezing rain warning issued Sunday has ended after about 13 millimetres of ice pellets and freezing rain were dropped onto 10 centimetres of fresh snow in the Ottawa area on Sunday.
But a special weather statement is still in effect for a wide swath of southern Ontario, from Sarnia to Cornwall.
The statement, posted by Environment Canada, says that while the ice storm has come to an end, colder temperatures and northwesterly winds on Monday "will still have considerable impact on the regions for the next few days."
"As a result much of the ice will not melt and will likely remain on many surfaces for the next several days," the statement reads.
The wind could also cause more ice-laden trees to break.
Sunday storm knocked out power to thousands
As of 6:30 a.m. Monday morning, more than 120,000 Hydro One customers were still without power. As of 3 a.m. Monday morning, more than 250,000 Toronto Hydro customers were without power.
Hydro Ottawa sent a crew supervisor, 12 power line maintainers and several bucket trucks to Picton, Ont., to assist Hydro One with power restoration in Prince Edward County, a Hydro Ottawa spokesperson said.
Areas south of Ottawa including Cornwall, Kingston and other areas along Highway 401 saw icy conditions as early as Saturday morning as freezing rain knocked power out for hundreds of thousands of people.
Sanders and salt trucks were also working hard across Ontario to help fight the slippery road conditions. Ontario Provincial Police reported 175 cars in the ditch across eastern and central Ontario.
At the MacDonald-Cartier International Airport, several flights were cancelled or delayed.
The CBC's Sherry Aske spoke to a family whose flight to Newfoundland was cancelled, forcing them to wait until Christmas Day to board another flight.
Via Rail also said there were delays on the Toronto-Montreal and Toronto-Ottawa lines due to the ice storm and OC Transpo said the O-Train would not run Sunday to allow for emergency ice removal.
The freezing rain warning in the Ottawa area stretched to Prescott. Environment Canada said winds in open areas could reach 50 kilometres per hour that could cause damage to structures due to the weight of the frozen precipitation.
Overnight, the capital region saw consistent snowfall from with some freezing drizzle in the morning. But the worst of the storm happened north and east of Ottawa, according to CBC Ottawa meteorologist Teri Loretto.