Warm air surges north into Ontario and Quebec

An early and warm spring may be on tap. It is looking like the entire month of March may remain above freezing for daytime highs in Montreal.

The melting continues in southern Quebec after daytime highs on Wednesday reached between 10 and 15C (50 to 60F). The normal high for the second week of March should be 1C (34F). This morning, we are dealing with widespread fog with temperatures near 7C (45F) in Montreal. A cold front slipped south of the city overnight. As a result, the temperature will drop today, down to the freezing point by evening. Low pressure responsible for major flooding across the south central US will lift a plume of moisture north along the cold front today. At this time, I expect most of the rain to remain south of Montreal, with the heaviest falling across central New York and Vermont, up to 25mm (1 inch) possible. Montreal can expect just a cold drizzle, with cloudy skies today into this evening.

Stay OFF the ice
On Friday, skies will clear out with mild temperatures returning. The high temperatures will range from 5C to 11C (41 to 52F) most of the weekend across southern Quebec. It should remain dry through Sunday. An important note on this mild weather; All ice on area rivers and lakes is very unstable and thus extremely unsafe to be on at this time. On Wednesday, another drowning occurred after a man fell through the ice while fishing on Shelburne Pond in Vermont.

It was very warm just to our south on Wednesday. While Montreal managed 11C (52F) at Trudeau Airport, I recorded 13C (55F) here on L'Ile Perrot. The high reached 20C (68F) in Toronto, a record-breaking 21C (69F) in Burlington, Vermont and a downright hot 27C (81F) in Albany, New York.