Powerful winter storm to ease grip on province Sunday

 Hydro crews continue to work throughout the holiday in difficult conditions. While power has been restored to many, over 136,000 customers remain in the dark and cold Christmas morning. The utility is aiming for Tuesday to have most power restored. The hardest hit area remains the Quebec City region, with over 40,000 in the dark. Quebec and parts of the lower Saint Lawrence were hit with winds in excess of 120km/h. (Hydro-Quebec Photo)

Merry Christmas! Conditions are improving today, but travel with great care as many roads remain quite challenging.

The powerful winter storm that has hammered parts of Quebec, Ontario and New York since late Thursday, will begin to relax its grip for some today. A late issued blowing snow advisory is in effect for southern Quebec Sunday, with difficult travel conditions across many off-island locations. A few remaining snow squalls may make their way into southern Quebec today with perhaps a centimeter or two, but conditions should begin to improve.

The storm is now located east of James Bay moving slowly northeast while gradually weakening. In its wake, we still have over 136,000 Quebecers in the dark and cold Christmas morning, some without power for over 36 hours and counting. Hydro-Quebec crews continue to battle strong winds and drifting snow.

Sunday morning, winds were still gusting close to 70km/h at Trudeau Airport, with a peak gust of 88km/h reported on Saturday, down from Friday's 93km/h. Winds will continue to ease on Sunday as the storm move northeast away from the region. The wind should drop into the 30-50km/h range overnight and lessen even more on Boxing Day Monday.

On Saturday, several major accidents closed highways, especially in the west and southwest corner of the province. Conditions, while fairly good on the island of Montreal, remain challenging in several portions of the province, especially the southwest corner. Some drifts have been reported 5 and 6 feet high across highways, with Highway 201 from Saint-Clet to Rigaud remaining closed Sunday morning.

Driving to Toronto is still not an option Christmas Day, as highway 401 remains closed west of  Maitland, Ontario to almost Belleville. Snow squalls continue to impact the 401 corridor, but blizzard warnings have finally ended for Brockville and Kingston.

First responders in Buffalo, New York (shown above) and across the entire region have worked in terrible weather conditions over the last 48 hours. In Buffalo, numerous units became stuck or frozen during the historic storm. (Buffalo Fire Department Photo)

Buffalo, New York was hit hard by lake effect snow, with over two feet falling since Friday, driven by hurricane-force winds. Travel was impossible in the city, with zero visibility reported for hours on end. Numerous drivers remained trapped in their vehicles. The same was true east of Georgian Bay and Lake Huron in Ontario, where some even slept in a local WalMart, unable to safely reach their destinations. Conditions were so bad that even large plows and fire trucks became stuck in the drifting snow.

Temperature remain chilly in Montreal Christmas Day, but will warm as we head through the upcoming week. Rain and very mild temperatures are forecast by New Years Eve.