Rainfall warning in effect across northwestern Ont., on federal election day
Rain will turn to snow overnight for some areas in northwestern Ontario
Voters in northwestern Ontario heading to the polls to vote in today's federal election may want to bring along an umbrella.
Environment Canada issued several weather warnings across the region Monday, with 30 to 50 millimetres of rain in the forecast.
Thunder Bay, the north shore and Greenstone areas are under a rainfall warning. Along with Fort Frances, Dryden, Atikokan, and Ignace areas in the west.
"A low pressure system will bring heavy rain and thunderstorms to the area. Localized flooding in low-lying areas is possible. The frozen ground has a reduced ability to absorb this rainfall," reads the warning issued by Environment Canada.
The agency is also urging people in the Thunder Bay areas to keep children and pets away from creeks and river banks during the storm.
For the Greenstone and Manitouwadge areas, Environment Canada said the rain will change to ice pellets, freezing rain and snow as the temperature falls below zero overnight.
Weather leads to outages
Meanwhile, Hydro One is reporting an outage near Kenora, Ont., as of Monday afternoon. The utility company says the outage is due to extreme weather conditions, and nearly 200 customers are affected.
According to the Hydro One outage map, crews are onsite and restoration is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday night.
People in northwestern Ontario may be used to poor weather conditions on voting days by now.
During the recent Provincial Election in February, the region was hit with a massive snowstorm on election night.
At that time, disability advocates in Ontario warned some people could face accessibility issues on election day, due to back-to-back storms in parts of the province.