First snowstorm blasts Montreal

Strong winds and snow have turned L'Ile Perrot into a winter wonderland this morning. (ValleyWX Photo)

A winter storm warning remains in effect today for metro Montreal and southern Quebec. Warnings are also in place for eastern Ontario and New England. Snow, freezing rain, sleet and thunderstorms are impacting road and air travel across a wide swath of eastern North America.

Montreal has already measured 10cm of snow overnight as winter has returned to Quebec with a vengeance. Strong northeast winds are blowing the snow around making travel difficult at times. The wind reached as high as 72km/h at Trudeau Airport overnight. Low pressure responsible for this storm is near Lake Huron this morning and will move east across southern Quebec. Snow and sleet will continue most of the day, along with gusty winds up to 70km/h and cold temperatures. Montreal is currently -11C (12F) with a windchill of -21C (-6F). I believe the really mild air with this system will remain south of Montreal. By comparison, Toronto has light rain at 2C this morning.

Expect accumulations in Montreal through this evening to be in the 20-30cm range. Milder air will return on Wednesday with cloudy skies and a high of 0C (32F).