Wintry week ahead

2pm Update: At 2pm light freezing rain is falling over parts of southern Quebec. The temperature rose rapidly this morning from -10C at 10am to -3C by 11am. Freezing rain warnings are in effect for the St. Lawrence Valley in Ontario but none in Quebec at this point. Surface low pressure near Cape Hatteras will move rapidly northeast today along the coast and deepen. Snow is spreading north across Vermont and New York and will edge into southern Quebec tonight with 5cm possible. Roads are icy at this hour across the area.

The entire country is enduring a snowy cold winter. Below workers clear streets in Regina, Saskatchewan after yet another storm. Regina has broken the record for the most snow to start the season with 120.5cm since October 1. The previous record was 113.4cm set in 1973-74. The most snow for the season was 194.8cm in 1955-56. (Regina Leader-Post)It was a bitter January day yesterday in Montreal and across eastern Canada. The temperature rose to -14C in Montreal but that was late last evening, the low was -24C. Light winds and sunshine made it feel a little better by late afternoon. Today we are nearly 10 degrees milder than yesterday at this time thanks to weakening low pressure to our southwest. This system will push a little light snow or freezing drizzle across the forecast area today. Little accumulation is forecast from that system. A second stronger storm is developing east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. This storm will move to lie near Cape Cod by tomorrow morning. Freezing rain and snow is affecting portions of the east coast of the US with warnings once again as far north as the Vermont/Quebec border. This storm will send a period of heavier snow across the area late this afternoon and tonight with perhaps 5cm south of Montreal and 10-20cm across Vermont.

Tomorrow another arctic cold front will cross the area with gusty winds and snow showers along with plunging temperatures in the afternoon. Highs will be reached early in the day at -4C and drop to -10C by days end. Thursday will be sunny, before another storm heads towards the region. Expect low pressure to deepen in the Ohio Valley Friday and move south of Montreal. Steady light to moderate snow will develop with perhaps more than 10cm for Montreal and Ottawa. That will be followed by another surge of arctic air into the weekend with windy and very cold weather in Quebec and Ontario. High temperature will remain below -10C with lows colder than -20C through the weekend.