Cold better than snow?

Halifax on Wednesday morning. Over 60cm of snow and strong winds turned the city into a wintry ghost town. (Metro News)

Cold better than snow, a question or a statement, depending on which weather you prefer. The fact is all the cold weather Montreal and southern Quebec has been experiencing since late December has in fact kept our snow totals down. Montreal has not recorded one single snow event over 20cm this winter, and we have only had 22cm this month. Halifax had that much snow in just a few hours on Wednesday. The arctic high pressure that has been so dominant in our area has deflected the storms further south and east. A difference of as little as 160km has saved us from being buried.

Such was the case again this week as two more storms skirted the east coast with heavy snow across the Maritimes and eastern New England. Charlottetown, PEI has broken a seasonal record with over 463cm of snow so far, more than Whistler, B.C. On Wednesday the brunt of the most recent storm hit Halifax, Nova Scotia, shutting down the city. Over 60cm of snow fell in less than 24 hours, blown around by 70km/h winds. Another coastal storm is forecast for this upcoming weekend. That storm will pass south and east of Montreal bringing snow to places like New York and Boston Saturday and into Atlantic Canada Sunday.

Meanwhile arctic high pressure will remain in control in Montreal with sunny and cold weather today. A series of fronts will bring milder air Friday and Saturday but with some light snow expected. A strong cold front will cross the city Saturday night with snow squalls, strong winds and dropping temperatures. The high on Friday and Saturday will be above freezing at 2C (36F) but drop to a high of only -5C (23F) for Sunday, well below the normal high of 4C (39F).