Strong winds, blowing snow threaten to wreak havoc in southern Ontario

TORONTO (680 NEWS) — Strong winds are wreaking havoc across much of southern Ontario.

Hydro One is reporting “a significant number of outages” as more than 30,000 customers have been left without power as a result of the intense high wind storm. The utility says it has put crews and support staff in areas predicted to be hardest hit in order to assess any damage and respond to any outages as quickly and as safely as possible.

So far the Toronto area has been spared any serious damage with Toronto Hydro reporting sporadic outages across the city.

Wind gusts of 97 km/h have already been recorded out at Pearson International Airport and Environment Canada warns winds could potentially reach 120 km/h near the east end of Lake Erie and over Prince Edward County near Lake Ontario.

Strong winds in the Niagara region have forced the closure of the Niagara River Parkway due to ice getting pushed over the retaining wall from the lake.

Pearson Airport is reporting more than 280 flights have been cancelled so far. They recommend checking your flight status before heading out.

Snow is expected to begin falling in the GTA later this evening and coupled with the high winds, could produce snow squalls and lake effect snow in some areas.

“We could see accumulations of 5 cm by Monday morning and through the Monday morning drive, blowing and drifting snow is still a possibility,” said 680 NEWS weather specialist Denise Andreacchi.

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