SNOW and colder

Ok now that I have your attention, it will only be some scattered snow flurries for Montreal. A cold front moved through the city last night with very little notice, just a wind shift from the southwest to northwest. This has brought in noticeably cooler air this morning and the city is at 1C. It will not warm much today as clouds begin to increase once again with a few showers likely by afternoon. Winds will become gusty and temperatures will do no better than 5C before lowering below freezing to -2C tonight. Any showers will change over to flurries after sunset and end after midnight. Roads, especially elevated structures may be a little slippery in places overnight.

The gusty northwest winds are setting up snow squalls in the usual trouble spots southeast of Lakes Huron, Erie and Ontario. Warnings are out for the Bruce Peninsula in Ontario as well as around Sault Ste Marie for up to 25cm of snow. Warnings are also in effect for Jefferson, Lewis and Oswego Counties in New York for 6 to 9 inches of snow. The snow will intensify this afternoon and taper by Friday morning. As with all lake snow events expect the heaviest snow in very narrow bands with amounts ranging from nothing to up to 5cm an hour just a few miles away.

In western Canada the cold air continues to pour into Alberta and Saskatchewan. A pesky low pressure area will spread from northern Alberta into the southern Prairies today with accumulating snow and strong winds. A winter storm warning is in effect for Edmonton and parts of central Alberta for 10-15cm of snow. This morning Edmonton is -10C with a northeast wind at 30km/h and a windchill of -19C. Temperatures will not warm today but drop in the heavy snow with poor travel and low visibility. It was as cold as -40C in the Yukon yesterday morning, The cold has set new records across Alaska as well.