Long duration period of snow for southern Quebec & Ontario

More snow is forecast for the winter weary east this weekend. (AccuWeather)

 I had mentioned earlier this week that the weekend forecast could go either way. Most forecast offices within our region were leaning towards clouds and snow this weekend but Environment Canada out of Montreal continued with the sunshine forecast, so up the middle we went. There seems to be more of a consensus now that snow will fall this weekend. While we are not expecting a big storm, it will be a long duration event that will add up to a few centimetres by late Monday.

A frontal boundary will establish itself across southern New England separating the polar air over our region from the more March like warmth creeping into the southern US. The warm air rising over the cold air at the surface will generate precipitation in the form of snow across interior New England, southern Quebec and eastern Ontario. Flurries are expected today, before a general light snow starts late Saturday. On Sunday a period of steady snow is expected, with up to 10cm possible by Monday afternoon for Montreal. Accumulations may reach 15cm or more over New Engalnd. The good news is that temperatures will moderate from the frigid low of -26C (-15F) this morning on L'Ile Perrot up to -10C (14F) today. Highs this weekend will be around -8C (18F). More arctic air is poised to invade Ontario and Quebec next week with very cold temperatures expected by Wednesday night. No real warming trend is anywhere in sight at this time, just more periods of snow and cold as the weather pattern remains active.