Hydro One says at least 28,000 customers were without power late Saturday night as a burst of freezing rain swept across Southern Ontario.
Hydro crews were working to restore power to thousands of customers.
The largest outage impacting the city was located in an area between York Mills and Lawrence, Victoria Park and Don Mills, Toronto Hydro said.
Toronto Hydro said earlier Saturday they were expecting to see outages as the freezing rain intensifies.
"Our main concern with freezing rain is the weight that it places on our overhead equipment and tree limbs and that kind of thing,' Toronto Hydro's Christina Basil said. “If you spot a downed wire, always treat it as live, stay back at least 10 feet, and please report it to us.”
Reports of any downed wires can be made at 416-542-8000. (See Hydro One map for latest.)
The wave of outages comes as a second burst of freezing rain sweeps through the province.
Much of southern and eastern Ontario, including Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area, remain under a freezing rain warning from Environment Canada.
The storm is expected to continue until Sunday morning.
Twenty to 30 mm of freezing rain is possible in some areas between Saturday evening and Sunday morning, Environment Canada said.
"This will be one of the most heaviest ice rains or freezing rains we have seen in decades," David Phillips, a climatologist with Environment Canada, told CTV News earlier on Saturday. "So I think it's important to be respectful of it and make sure you don’t do anything foolish."
Phillip says areas north of Toronto will likely see between 20 and 30 millimetres of rain.
"That’s a concern. This is the kind of precipitation -- the freezing rain, the freezing drizzle -- that actually can cling. As soon as it falls, it spreads out into a thin veneer, the hardest ice that nature can produce," Phillips said.
"And it can collect on wires, it’s very adhesive, it's tenacious, you can't break it way … And the worry is we’ll see some power outages, some branches go down. It's the loss of power that has lots of officials worried."
The storm moved in after the region got a taste of the freezing rain from a separate storm system Friday night. That storm left many areas with slick sidewalks, slippery roads, and ice-covered trees and shrubs.
With many reports of downed power lines throughout the province, hydro and emergency officials are reminding people to stay away from potentially dangerous downed wires if they spot them. People should call police to report any downed wires, Hydro One said.
As well, police are asking people to stay off the roads unless they absolutely have to drive.
Those who do venture out are advised to slow down on the roads and leave more time to reach their destinations.
Holiday travellers are being urged to check their flight status before heading out to the airport as several travel advisories are in effect.
Air Canada is warning of possible further flight delays at Toronto's Pearson International Airport, where there have already been some cancellations as result of poor weather conditions.
At Montreal's Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport many flights on Saturday were delayed or cancelled. Air Canada says it's waiving rebooking fees for cancelled flights.
The bad weather has also prompted the York Region and Peel District School Boards to cancel all permits for Sunday.
NOTES:
Reports of any downed wires can be made at 416-542-8000.
For more information on how to prepare for a winter storm, click here.
