Gusty storm knocks out power
Area under severe thunderstorm warning for hours; storm fells trees, knocks out power for hundreds
A storm swept across Peterborough and much of southern Ontario Friday, bringing with it heavy rain, powerful wind gusts and seemingly instant relief from the suffocating heat.
The temperature in Peterborough plunged from a high of 33 C or 42 C with the humidity at 3 p.m. to 23 C or 31 C with humidity at 5 p.m. shortly after the first downpours of the storm.
After that, the storm came in waves with rain and wind followed by brief periods of calm.
The storm knocked out power for 195,000 Hydro One customers across southern Ontario. Power was restored to about 39,000 of them by late Friday.
The Bancroft area was the worst hit area of the province with 29,000 customers losing powers.
As of early Saturday morning, 18,622 customers in the Bancroft area were still without power, with full restoration not expected until 9 p.m. Sunday; 7,978 customers in the Fenelon Falls area were still without power with full restoration not expected until 10 p.m. Monday.
In the Peterborough County area 2,445 customers were still without power as of early Satur- day morning will full restoration not expected until 11 p.m. Sunday.
Environment Canada warned that some of the scattered thunderstorms moving east across the area were capable of producing damaging winds and large hail – and they could lead to a tornado.
Some places could get torrential downpours with 55 millimetres of rain in an hour, Environment Canada stated.
Tornado warnings were issued for many communities, including Fenelon Falls, Balsam Lake and northern Kawartha Lakes west of Peterborough.
Environment Canada ended all tornado warnings at about 8:20 p.m.
The storm knocked out power to about 40 homes in the Chemong Rd. and Summerhill Dr. area of the city’s north end for several hours. Peterborough Utilities workers had to replace poles and wires.
Trees damaged by the storm took the main electricity feeder in Lakefield offline for about two hours.
About 100 Peterborough Utilities customers near the Lakefield Fairgrounds area were without power for about three hours.