A long-threatened thunderstorm hit Toronto Friday evening, leaving downed trees and power lines in its wake.

Roughly 7,000 customers are currently without power in the city, according to Toronto Hydro. The area boundaries are Roselawn Ave. to the north, St. Clair Ave. W. to the south, Dufferin St. to the west and Bathurst St. to the east.

Toronto Hydro said Etobicoke is one of the hardest hit areas. Power lines are still down on many streets and crews will be working all night until power is restored.

At the peak of the storm, Hydro One said the storm knocked out power for more than 150,000 customers in Ontario. They said have been making some progress and have been able to restore power to more than 38,000 customers in the last few hours.

Environment Canada has now downgraded the severe thunderstorm warning to a severe thunderstorm watch for the city. Earlier, the agency said the storm could bring damaging winds and large hail to the northern GTA.

Meteorologists said that some areas could receive torrential downpours, which could bring up to 50 mm of rain in an hour.

Tornado warnings had been issued for Hamilton, Mississauga, Brampton, Burlington, Oakville, Milton, Halton Hills and St. Catharines. Those warnings have now been lifted.

Environment Canada is tracking an area of severe thunderstorms extending from near Windsor through Toronto to Cornwall. In addition, scattered strong to severe thunderstorms are moving eastward across Lake Huron and Georgian Bay.

Scattered thunderstorms are tracking east southeastward at 60 km/h.

They warn that strong wind gusts and hail can damage property and cause injuries. Local downpours can also cause flash floods.

A severe thunderstorm watch is issued when conditions are favourable for the development of a storm. It is different from a severe thunderstorm warning, which is issued when a storm is imminent or already occurring.

With files from Sahar Fatima

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