According to Hydro-Québec’s dedicated website, which tracks power outages in Quebec, there are around 21,000 homes without power in the Montreal area —just the Montreal area, not including the surrounding hills. Across Quebec, there are around 190,000 homes without power. And the numbers are dropping by the minute.
For those without power, this isn’t very reassuring, but considering we were expecting an ice storm that could have rivaled the apocalyptic crisis of 1998, it’s actually quite positive.
Long-time Montrealers remember the January 1998 storm, when 100 mm of freezing rain fell on Montreal and the city was completely covered in a thick layer of ice. Power lines cracked and broke under its weight, cars were immobilized, and front doors were sealed shut. To this day, it remains one of the most devastating weather events Quebec has ever experienced.
Up to date – the ice storm is developing on its second day.
The ice storm announced earlier this week was very nasty— 30 mm of freezing rain in 24 hours, from Wednesday, March 11, to Thursday, March 12, 2026.
Expected disruptions: hydroelectricity and the accompanying power outages, very dangerous or impassable roads, closed stores. Yesterday, Wednesday, March 11, many cafés and stores were closed (in anticipation of the storm), as were schools and some CEGEPs.
Yes, today it’s slippery. This morning, Montreal creaks and cracks under a thin layer of ice that transforms its ugliest badly parked cars into sculptures pulled from the waters after the discovery of a ship that sank in the 15th century. The streets, the streetlights, the umbrellas if you leave them open too long—there is something miraculous about the city’s statuesque immobility.
According to the latest news, Environment Canada’s Orange weather warning has been lifted, and while the winds are strong and unpleasant today, tomorrow will be sunny. Of course, we are still limiting our travel. It’s slippery, slippery.
