Wednesday morning comes with a word of advice from Environment Canada and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) to residents of Barrie: “When thunder roars, go indoors!” This comes as part of the severe thunderstorm watch issued for the area. For many in the city, flashes of lightning lit up the night sky as rained poured in in the early morning hours. Wednesday’s weather Early Wednesday, ECCC predicts an 80 per cent chance of precipitation. As those chances drop down to 20 per cent between the hours of 8 a.m. and noon, the risk of thunderstorms goes away until 1 p.m. Starting at 1 p.m. and remaining until the end of the day, the risk of thunderstorms returns, ECCC says. Chances of precipitation increase to 40 per cent between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. then reach 80 per cent and remain there for the rest of the day. ECCC says residents can expect 40 to 50 millimetres of rain, with a daytime high of 27 C, a low of 17 C, a Humidex value of 35 and a UV index of 6. With the exception of some mixed sun and clouds in the afternoon, residents can expect cloudy conditions for most of the day. Overnight aftermath According to power company Alectra, almost 30 people remain without power after the early morning lightning storm. Hydro One reports a number of outages across Barrie, Orillia, Owen Sound, Parry Sound, Huntsville and Newmarket as well. Early morning commuters may have come across floods in the city as well. According to Ontario 511, flooding on Highway 400 Northbound on the ramp at Essa Road forced an all-lane closure. The flood took half an hour to clear, according to Ontario 511.
