Spring storm knocks out power, closes schools

Wind, rain and wet snow has taken out power to more than 40,000 customers in the Ottawa-Gatineau area Thursday, closed some schools in western Quebec and disrupted vehicle and light rain travel.

Snowfall warnings and other weather alertsremainin and around the capital.

About 21,750Hydro Onecustomers in eastern Ontariodidn't have power as of about 1 p.m.. About 18,500 localHydro-Qubec customers were in the same boat.

Hydro Ottawa is reporting about 2,100 customers are out.

Ottawa's international airport recorded 14.5 millimetres of rain and 9.8 centimetres of snow Wednesday.

Ottawa, communities to its east andGatineau were forecast around 8:30 a.m. to get about five to 10more centimetres of snow.

The snow is supposed to fade in intensity startingthis afternoon.

Ottawa Fire Services has ended its open-air fire ban.

The forecast for areas immediately north and east of Gatineauis for a total of 15 to 20 centimetres of snow, sometimes heavy and wet, plus winds gusting up to 70 kilometres an hour. Relief is expected there thisevening.

The Maniwaki area has a similar outlook, but slightly weaker winds and slightly less snow.

Communitiessouth of Ottawa such as Brockville, Carleton Place and Smiths Fallswere forecast around 10:45 a.m. to get another couple of centimetres of snow.

The Belleville and Pontiac areas didn'thave any weather alerts early Thursday morning. Later in the morning, warnings and statements ended west of Ottawa and in the Kingston area.

School changes, crashes, LRT breaks

One of Ottawa's light rail trains broke down at Bayviewstation not long after 6 a.m. It took more than three hours for full service to resume.

A memo from the city said the maintenance manager believes "the wet snow and drop in temperatures overnight may have impacted the affected train's communications-based train control system."

A crashclosed the eastbound lanes of Highway 401 between McConnell Avenue and Boundary Road in Cornwall Thursday morning for about two hours, according to the transportation ministry.

Police in the Hawkesbury area askeddrivers to stay off the roads because of drifting snow.

More than a dozen schools in theCentres de services scolaire au Coeur-des-Valles,des DraveursandPortages de l'Outaouais, plus theWestern Qubec School Board,closed Thursday because they don't have power.

School buses arecancelled Thursday under the STEOand CTSE. They're partially cancelled under the Tri-Board agency and CTSO.

Renfrew County almost got out unscathed, but isn't running buses in the Madawaska area.