Cold week ahead for Montreal

The coldest air of the winter will sweep across Ontario and Quebec this week. (AccuWeather)

When we look back at the winter of 2015-2016, or what little there was of it, this may likely turn out to be the coldest week of the season for Montreal. A strong cold front has crossed southern Quebec early this morning with a decent shot of snow. Light snow is still falling in southern Quebec, and I expect most areas will see 5-10cm of the fluffy variety before it ends later today.

Winds will increase this morning out of the northwest up to 50km/h. Blowing snow will be a problem on the open highway, especially once you leave the city limits. Temperatures are about as warm as they are going to be today, around -9C (16F) currently. Combined with the winds today, windchill readings will be below -20C (-4F). The cold will continue into Tuesday with morning lows close to -18C (0F) and daytime highs no better than -10C (14F). Compared to last winter this seems warm, but not this year. Most of us are not accustomed to a week of -10C degree highs. Stay warm! Sunshine returns by late Wednesday but it will remain chilly most of the week.