January thaw on the way

The cleanup continues in Montreal from over 60cm (2 feet) of snow that has fallen over the past two weeks. (CBC News)

It is another chilly morning in Montreal with current temperatures of -12C but as cold as -19C in Ottawa and points northwest of Montreal where clearing as already occurred. We hand another few centimetres of snow overnight adding to the 8cm that fell on Sunday and pushing us over 10cm for the event. This adds to our already deep snow pack. This may be a little problematic as we move forward later in the forecast period with much milder air and melting snow. For now it remains chilly today with near steady temperatures and clearing skies.

Clouds will be on the increase tonight as much milder air flows in from the southwest. Overnight lows will be reached by midnight with temperatures rising overnight. Highs on Tuesday will be much warmer then today, -6C, under partly cloudy skies. On Wednesday we are looking at a little snow as another weak system affects the St. Lawrence Valley and points north, much milder air will then flow into the region by the weekend. There is a significant difference in forecast highs by Saturday for Burlington, Vermont as compared with Montreal. While I do expect warm air to advance northward, deep snow cover in Montreal along with light northeast winds may keep the mercury down a little. If the warm air does make it this far north, we could be looking at highs above plus 5C (41F) by the weekend. Temperatures by Sunday could be as warm as 10C (50F) in portions of the region including New York, Vermont and possibly eastern Ontario. Enjoy it as it will last just a few days and indications are we will be back in the deep freeze by next week.