El Nino...record high for Montreal - ice storm for Texas

A spectacular shot of the effects of freezing rain from Oklahoma. 
(Twitter Photo @KOCOBrad)

The crazy fall weather continues to unfold as we head into the holiday season. On Friday, Montreal recorded a record high of 14.7C (58F) beating the old record of 14.4C (57F) set in 1976. This occurring during the same week we had our first snowfall. Along with the warmth came about 14mm of rain and just a trace of snow late last night. It was just too warm yesterday for any appreciable snow to fall last evening. The weekend looks fair and cooler with near normal daytime highs around 0C (32F) and cold overnight lows down around -7C (19F). It should remain dry through Monday.

While Montreal and southern Quebec were warm, cold air surging through the middle portion of North America produced a wide area of snow and freezing rain from the northern Rockies into the southern Plains. West Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas were under an ice storm warning with over 15mm (0.5") of freezing rain. The rain coated trees, power lines and roads resulting in numerous accidents and at least 5 deaths. Power was out to thousands across the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles during the busy US Thanksgiving Holiday. More freezing rain is forecast today as moisture surges north from tropical storm Sandra entering Mexico from the Pacific Ocean. It has been just a bizarre fall!