Thousands without power after strong thunderstorms sweep Montreal

Sherbrooke Street West in N.D.G after strong afternoon thunderstorms. (Photo via Twitter @EffieInMtl)

Lines of strong thunderstorms have been impacting southern Ontario and Quebec on Tuesday. Severe thunderstorms watches remain in effect along with scattered warnings. Even a tornado watch was posted for Eastern Ontario and upstate New York.

As of 5:15PM, nearly 100,000 Quebec homes were in the dark, including 58,000 in Montreal. The N.D.G. neighborhood of Montreal was impacted with strong straight line winds that tore down hundreds of trees, some onto homes and cars. Damage is widespread. Crews are on the scene starting what will likely be a lengthy clean-up. A peak wind gust of 81km/h was recorded at Trudeau Airport. Looking at the damage in N.D.G., the wind appeared to be much stronger there.  Heavy rain also accompanied the fast moving storms.

More tree damage in N.D.G. (Photo via Twitter @DJVminD)