PICKLE LAKE — Environment Canada has issued a freezing rain warning for a large stretch of northern Ontario.
The warnings effectively stretch along an east-west corridor from Cat Lake First Nation in the west all the way east to the Ontario-Quebec border. The affected areas include Armstrong, Nakina, and just north of Highway 11 to the south up to Neskantaga in the north.
The weather office warned that accumulations of ice of two to five millimetres is expected and that the weather event is expected to last through Saturday night.
“Freezing rain will become more widespread tonight and will be mixed with ice pellets and snow at times,” the warning stated.
“Surfaces such as highways, roads, walkways and parking lots will become icy, slippery and hazardous. Ice build-up may cause tree branches to break. Utility outages may occur. Beware of branches or electrical wires that could break under the weight of ice,” the warning continued.
A large stretch of Highway 599 from Savant Lake north to the turnoff into Pickle Lake was closed on Friday.
As of 2 p.m. ET Friday, winter storm watches were also in effect from the Manitoba border east to the Dryden area, and from the Canada-U.S. border up to just south of North Spirit Lake.
Environment Canada encouraged people to monitor alerts and forecasts.
