It may be spring, but the weather that battered southern Ontario on Wednesday and Thursday sure felt like a winter storm.

A mix of snow, rain, freezing rain and ice pellets caused many school cancellations, as well as localized power outages.

At one point Thursday morning, tens of thousands of people across southern Ontario were without electricity.

That number fell steadily as the day progressed, but smaller, more localized power outages remained a concern.

As of 4:45 p.m. Thursday, some of the biggest power outages in our area included:

  • Nearly 2,400 people without power in rural areas east of Guelph, including Acton, Morriston, Rockwood, Freelton and Eden Mills (estimated restoration 8 p.m.)
  • North and west of Woodstock, nearly 2,000 people were without power due to one large address and several smaller outages (estimated restoration 8 a.m. Friday)
  • More than 500 people without power in the northern part of Brant County, including Glen Morris but not St. George (estimated restoration 6 p.m.)
  • Two separate outages were affecting more than 500 people near the community of Bright (estimated restoration 8 p.m. for the northern part of this outage; 8 a.m. Friday for the southern part)

The storm was also responsible for a number of school cancellations, including both of Waterloo Region’s major school boards, the Upper Grand District School Board, Wilfrid Laurier University and Conestoga College.

The University of Waterloo remained open.