Environment Canada has ended a “wind warning” for the Ottawa region as of about 4:15 p.m. on Saturday.
The warning for Ottawa North, Kanata, Orleans, Ottawa South, Richmond and Metcalfe had said winds arriving as part of a cold front could cause power outages, damage roof shingles and windows, toss around loose objects and break tree branches.
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At least one public event has been postponed because of the expectation of high winds. The Mayor’s Christmas Celebration at city hall, scheduled for Saturday afternoon, was delayed until Saturday, Dec. 10.
Meanwhile, Ottawa Fire Services announced Saturday morning a ban on open fires in the city.
Bans are implemented to prevent the rapid spread of grass and brush fires.
This ban applies to properties that have an open fire permit and to agricultural burns, brush pile burns, campfires and wood-burning outdoor fireplaces, a release from Ottawa Fire Services said.
Devices that don’t require a permit, such as propane, ethanol and natural gas outdoor fireplaces and barbecues, are not included in the ban.
The wind storm already battered parts of southern and Eastern Ontario on Saturday morning and early afternoon, leaving at least 38,000 residents without power, one major utility said.
An online map from Hydro One showed more than 300 outages in the early afternoon, mainly in southern and Eastern Ontario.
One of the hardest hit was Port Colborne, Ont., on the shores of Lake Erie, where wind speeds reached as high as 100 km/h, said Peter Kimbell, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada.
But the stormy conditions were relatively short-lived, Kimbell said.
In the national capital, Hydro Ottawa posted at about 4 p.m. that a pole had caught fire, causing an outage affecting customers in Riverside-Sud-Findlay Creek, Gloucester-Southgate and Osgoode. Crews were on route, the post added.
Overall, Hydro Ottawa posted, there were “several outages across our service territory as a result of the wind. Crews are responding to restore power as quickly and safely as possible.”
Environment Canada reported that the high temperature on Saturday was 8.6 C at about 2 p.m. then dip down to a low of -7 overnight, with a windchill of -15.
For Sunday, there’s a 30-per-cent chance of flurries in the morning and a projected high temperature of plus 1.
For Monday, expect a mix of sun and cloud with a high of 5 C.
jmiller@postmedia.com
with files from The Canadian Press
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