

Chris Fox and Kayla Goodfield, CP24.com





About 20,000 homesacross the Greater Toronto Area remain without power on Friday night after high winds rolled through during the late afternoon.

More than 8,000 residents in The Annex, Leaside, Yorkville and Etobicoke, just south of Highway 401, are still without electricity, according to Toronto Hydro. While Alectra Utilities, which covers most of the GTA, said more than 6,000 residents remain without power. Veridian Connections said that about 5,800 customers near Pickering are also still without power.

These outages came as the city of Toronto and much of southern Ontario remained under a special weather statement throughout the day.

Toronto Hydro said restoration efforts are expected to last into Saturday.

High winds with gusts of up to 70 to 80 km/h were expected to hit the city throughout the late afternoon.

A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for Toronto, northern Durham Region, northern York Region, Uxbridge and Georgina. The warning has since ended in all regions.

Environment Canada said that the winds were associated with a cold front that arrived in the GTA later this afternoon. That system was also expected to bring showers and thunderstorms with it.

The wild weather comes on what is the last official day of summer.

Speaking with CP24 on Friday afternoon, Environment Canada Senior Climatologist Dave Phillips said that the region could be in for a “nasty bout” of weather that will last for most of the evening.

He said that the system won’t bring winds like those the city experienced during several storms this past spring, but will still pack a punch.

“You could very well see power outages. That wouldn’t be a surprise at all. And also anything not nailed down. Lawn furniture is still out there, maybe take time to get that indoors and prevent it from blowing over,” he said. “This is a nasty bout and there is a lot of energy in this system. It is already unfolding as it is supposed to and by rush-hour tonight we will see it full thrust.”

These powerful winds have been blamed for one collision on Friday, prompting police to warn drivers to use caution as conditions worsened throughout the day.

According to Sgt. Kerry Schmidt, a construction pylon blew onto Highway 401 near Dixie Road shortly after noon. Schmidt said that a transport truck driver swerved to avoid the pylon but “lost control,” struck another vehicle, and rolled over.

The driver of the transport truck sustained minor injuries in the collision. Two eastbound lanes on Hwy. 401 were briefly closed as a result, however the roadway has since reopened.

“Winds are going 50 or 60km/h right now so if you are driving a big vehicle, especially a big vehicle that is light, it is going to catch a lot of that wind and it is a pretty easy opportunity to lose control and become a harmonica and start oscillating,” Schmidt warned in a video posted to Periscope on Friday afternoon.

At around 4 p.m., the TTC said customers on most surface and subway routes may experience delays of up to 15 minutes during the afternoon commute due to excessive winds.

The daytime high for Friday reached 32 C but felt closer to 37 C with the humidex. The temperature, however, will drop down to a low of 8 C overnight.

Cooler temperatures will then linger over the weekend with highs of 16 C and 17 C in the forecast for Saturday and Sunday.

Phillips said that while it may not feel like fall yet, it will by tomorrow.

“It is almost like nature has the calendar in front of her. Here we are the last full day of summer and we are seeing temperatures of 31 C at noon and a humidex of 39, but grab it while it lasts because tomorrow the temperature is going to drop by about 23 degrees as that classic kind of warm southerly air gives way to a cold front,” he said. “Tomorrow it will feel like fall and it will be fall.”