Thousands of residents are currently experiencing power outages on Thursday morning following a series of powerful summer thunderstorms in the Ottawa-Gatineau region. The storms swept through the area throughout Wednesday, culminating in a particularly intense one with heavy rain and strong winds around 10:30 p.m.
Witnesses described the sudden onset of the storm, with one resident, Ann Weatherdon, recounting how her chimney was damaged by a tree falling on her home near Merivale Road and Meadowlands Drive. Another resident, Travis Hartley, mentioned the rapid accumulation of hail, reaching about four to six centimetres on their back deck.
According to Peter Kimbell, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, the Ottawa International Airport weather station recorded 22 millimetres of rainfall within 26 minutes on Wednesday night. The station also reported a peak wind gust of 107 km/h, the strongest recorded since the May 2022 derecho event.
Although a severe thunderstorm watch was issued earlier in the day, a warning was not issued until the storm had already commenced. Kimbell acknowledged that the impact of the winds was underestimated, leading to a delayed warning. He mentioned that tornado warnings or red-level severe thunderstorm warnings with winds exceeding 130 km/h would trigger emergency phone alerts.
As of approximately 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, around 6,100 customers in Ottawa and 5,000 in Gatineau were without power. The affected areas are primarily around Woodroffe Avenue and Merivale Road in Ottawa and the Aylmer area in Gatineau. Hydro Ottawa reported a peak of over 25,000 customers without power, while Hydro-Québec noted more than 20,000 outages in the Outaouais region. However, there were minimal outages reported by local Hydro One.
In a separate weather event, the Ottawa airport recorded about 24 millimetres of rain on Monday during storms. July was noted as the rainiest month on record in Ottawa, receiving approximately 282 millimetres of rainfall, with a significant storm on July 1 still resonating with many residents.
The region continues to grapple with the aftermath of these severe weather events, with residents cleaning up and power companies working to restore services to affected customers.