THUNDER BAY -- Ontario Provincial Police have announced the re-opening of a portion of the Trans-Canada Highway west of Thunder Bay.
The stretch of Highway 17 from Shabaqua to Ignace which was closed early Thursday afternoon was declared open again just after 4:00 pm.
However traffic was still being stopped westbound from Ignace and eastbound from the Manitoba border because of poor road conditions.
OPP had earlier reported numerous collisions between Shabaqua and Kenora.
Highway 71 was also closed between Highway 17 and Sioux Narrows after vehicles became stuck on hills.
Environment Canada issued snowfall warnings for areas west of Thunder Bay including Shebandowan, Atikokan, Ignace, Dryden, Kenora and Fort Frances.
According to updated forecasts issued Thursday afternoon, some communities could receive up to 25 centimetres of snow by Friday morning.
The City of Thunder Bay was not included in a warning, but Environment Canada said residents should expect a mixture of rain and snow, with snow accumulations of up to 10 centimetres possible by Friday morning in areas inland from Lake Superior.
Hydro One reported numerous power outages along the Highway 17 corridor, especially in the Kenora area, as well as an outage affecting about 700 customers on the eastern outskirts of Thunder Bay.
According to information on the Hydro One website late Thursday, over 5,000 customers in the Kenora area may not have power restored before Friday afternoon.
The wintry weather was attributed to an Alberta Clipper entering the northwest from northern Minnesota.
The system comes with forecast wind gusts of up to 60 kilometres per hour.
To the east of Thunder Bay, the OPP late on Thursday morning announced that Highway 11 had been fully reopened between Nipigon and Beardmore.
The route was closed earlier in the morning after a single-vehicle collision that saw a truck spill a load of pipes onto the highway.
