Frigid with blowing snow advisory for southern Quebec

Low pressure is diving southeast across the Great Lakes today and will move towards Cape Cod tonight. This storm will then deepen rapidly into a major Nor'easter as it moves along the coast and into Nova Scotia. A very tight pressure gradient on the west side of the storm will increase winds across the Great Lakes basin and St. Lawrence Valley late today and Sunday. Winds in excess of 60km/h are likely in Montreal with higher gusts along the waterways. The result will be widespread blowing snow late this afternoon, overnight and early Sunday. Environment Canada has posted a blowing snow advisory for metro Montreal and points south with visibility expected to be under 1km at times. Travel with caution later today, especially outside the city going south.

As far as accumulations go, Montreal will be on the edge of the precipitation shield with perhaps 5-10cm (2-4 inches) of snow over the next 24 hours. The northwest wind will also pull down bitterly cold air with readings around -18C (0F) today and Sunday and windchill readings in the minus 30's. Lows Sunday night may be the coldest of the season, down to -25C with windchill values approaching -40C in southern Quebec and Ontario. The same forecast holds true for New York and New England with more snow forecast in those regions. A vast amount of warnings are in effect from the Ohio Valley across southern Ontario and Quebec, New England and into Atlantic Canada. Snowfall will range form 10-40cm across those regions. Winds will gust to hurricane force along the New England coast and into the Maritimes. Coastal flooding is possible in many communities. Around the Great Lakes snow squalls will affect the area south of Georgian Bay and Lake Huron as well as western New York as the cold air surges in. The Nor'Easter will pull away into Newfoundland by Monday with diminishing winds and very cold temperatures in its wake across Quebec.