Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Icy cold morning - major Nor'Easter to miss Montreal

A Transport Quebec image of ice fog lifting off the St. Lawrence River onto Highway 20 near L'Ile Perrot.
It is another frigid morning in Montreal with the temperature down to -25C (-13F) here on L'Ile Perrot. That cold has caused traffic problems on bridges leading to the island of Montreal. The bridge connecting L'Ile Perrot to Montreal was blocked this morning by a major accident. Other bridges in the city are reporting black ice as fog lifts off the St. Lawrence River. It will be another sunny, cold day with highs near -10C. Cold again tonight dropping close to -20C once again and sunny Thursday through increasing afternoon clouds, milder at -5C.

At this time it looks like a near miss for Montreal. That could change so stay tuned.
Coastal Storm Update
Our attention then turns to a developing winter storm that will become a big news maker across the deep south and along the US east coast and finally into Atlantic Canada. This will be a deepening storm becoming a full fledged Nor'Easter by the time it reaches the middle Atlantic states. Already this morning a major ice storm is unfolding across Georgia and portions of the Carolinas. Up to one inch of ice is forecast with widespread power outages expected. Winter storm warnings for heavy snow are up as far north as eastern Vermont. While recent models have trended a little west with the track of the storm, it still looks like the snow will just miss Montreal. How close? Well warnings are in effect up to the Quebec border with snow forecast in Quebec City and Sherbrooke but none for Montreal at this time. That could change so keep in touch with the latest forecast. The time frame for the snow locally will be Thursday night and Friday. It will be windy across the entire forecast region with snow from the international border south and east. Blizzard conditions are likely from New Hampshire and Maine into New Brunswick and the Gaspe region of eastern Quebec. Travel will be very poor in those regions.

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