Hundreds without power after winter storm blankets Ottawa with snow

A winter storm hit Ottawa and the surrounding areas Friday night, covering the ground in a blanket of heavy snow and knocking out power for hundreds of customers.

Fifteen centimetres of snow fell overnight. According to Environment Canada, another six to eight centimetres is expected to fall.

Environment Canada issued winter storm warnings Friday for almost the entire region except for communities along the water west of Brockville, Ont. The warnings are still in effect as of Saturday morning.

Here's everything you need to know as storm cleanup begins:

Power outages 

Hydro Ottawa has had crews ready to respond since yesterday, the utility said.

As of 6:30 a.m., 660 Hydro Ottawa customers had their power affected by the winter storm. According to Hydro Ottawa's outage map, the outage stretches in a line from the corner of Elgin Street and Argyle Avenue, across the Rideau Canal and stops close to the Lees O-Train station.

Hydro Ottawa says it could take until 11:00 a.m. before power is returned. Crews are investigating the cause.

Hydro One crews are currently working to restore power to about 60 customers in eastern Ontario. According to the Hydro One outage map, fewer than 20 of those customers are in Limoges, Ont. and 45 others are west of Cornwall.

Seventeen Hydro-Québec customers in the Outaouais don't have power.

Roads

Crews are currently clearing major roads like Baseline and Bank Street as well as the downtown core.

A snow plow clears a section of road during a snowstorm in Ottawa earlier in the week. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

In Ottawa, there's a winter parking ban on most city streets from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday. Gatineau, Que., has scheduled a winter parking ban that starts at 3 a.m. Saturday and runs until further notice.

Public transit

OC Transpo staff are working to minimize any disruptions as a result of the storm, general manager Renée Amilcar said in a Friday memo to council.

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Snow clearing crews were deployed overnight to keep the line and switches clear of snow and ice, and a system to de-ice the overhead wire that supplies electricity to the vehicles is currently in place.

Out of the 6,000 bus stops across the city, seven bus stops are typically removed from service during a winter storm.

Those bus stops are located around steep hills or slopes that make traction difficult during bad weather, Amilcar said in her memo.

Amilcar promised another update Saturday on the status of the city's transit network following the storm.