Spring warmth & rain for a day

More cold air will surge into eastern North America this weekend. This pattern has been all too familiar to residents since early January. (AccuWeather)

We finally managed to climb up to the freezing point Tuesday afternoon in Montreal. With bright sunshine, it felt very nice outdoors. The wind finally diminished after another breezy and cold start to the day. Low temperatures around the region Tuesday morning ranged form -13C (9F) at Trudeau Airport to as cold as -21C (-6F) in St Jovite and Sherbrooke.

Tonight will be much milder with southwest winds beginning to increase as high pressure moves east of the region. On Wednesday clouds will increase from the west as low pressure and a warm front move from southern Ontario into southern Quebec. Light rain will develop during the day in Ontario and spread into Montreal by late evening. Freezing rain is possible in portions of southwest Ontario early Wednesday morning, warnings are in place there. Some mixed snow is possible well north of Montreal but it should be above freezing in the city by the time the precipitation arrives. The mild southwest winds will help the temperature to rise to plus 6C (43F) on Wednesday in Montreal, and 8C (47F) on Thursday. Temperatures will remain above the freezing point Wednesday night in southern Quebec keeping any precipitation in the liquid form.

On Thursday a trough associated with this low as well as a strong cold front will move across southern Quebec with rain falling most of the day. A decent soaking is likely in Montreal with perhaps as much as 15mm. It will turn much colder Thursday night into Friday, with some mixed wet snow and rain showers possible. Temperatures will fall through the day Friday from plus 1C (34F) down to -11C (12F) by Saturday morning. It will be similar to last weekend with arctic high pressure over the region, but not nearly as cold.