Wild weather ride

The numbers tell it all at Trudeau Airport, wild pressure fall and rise, strong winds and roller coaster temperatures.

What a night that was as strong low pressure passed very close to Montreal. The night started damp and chilly with freezing rain. That was followed by a wind shift to the west and an ever so brief wedge of warm air pushing into southern Quebec. The mercury went from minus 1C at 11pm to plus 4C at 1am (5C at my house) and then the tumble began. That brings us to a few hours later at 7am with a temperature of-10C ( -11C at my house) and wind chill reading in the minus 20's. Add to that fierce winds overnight that kept Montreal fire fighters very busy with downed tree limbs, exploding transformers and dislodged temp parking garages. Winds gusted to 100km/h at Trudeau Airport at 1am and 96km/h at 2am. I recorded a peak gust of 57km/h but I know that my anemometer is way too close to the house. As soon as the weather warms I will be moving it to a new location. The winds have cut power to close to 80,000 homes in Quebec, 12,000 on the Island of Montreal. Numerous schools north of the city are closed today.

Montreal had close to 12mm of precipitation yesterday which translated into about 10cm of snow and ice mixed together and a little rain to end the event. The wind warning has been allowed to expire for southern Quebec, but it will remain blustery and cold all day with a few flurries. Winds will continue in the 30 to 60km/h range most of the day.