Icy morning

An icy start to the day on L'Ile Perrot (ValleyWX pic)

We are in the middle of a bad dream that never seems to want to end this winter. We have a major weather event underway this morning with freezing rain falling steadily in the city right during the morning commute. The ice has coated everything from cars to trees, and has slowed traffic to a crawl and closed schools.

To start, a freezing rain warning is in effect for southern Quebec and eastern Ontario. They have also been extended in the form of winter weather advisories for northeast New York and the US side of the St. Lawrence Valley. We managed around 9cm of snow yesterday in Montreal before it changed to freezing rain overnight, with about 2-5mm of ice forecast. The cold air remains well entrenched in the valley location with areas south of us already above freezing, nearly record setting. Here on L'Ile Perrot I am showing -5C, while in Burlington, Vermont it is plus 7C (46F) and 8C (48F) in Toronto. A warm front remains draped to the south of Montreal with very warm air to the south and cold air trapped to the north of the front. It may lift north of the region by late morning with precipitation tapering off. If we are lucky here in the city, the temperature may climb to plus 1C. The weather has resulted in the closure of numerous schools north of the city, delayed air travel at Trudeau and closed Highway 15 on the South Shore due to a major accident at this time.