Montreal's warmest day yet in 2016 forecast for Thursday

POOR TIMING: The warmest day of the year in Montreal on Thursday, will be followed by more cool, showery weather for the weekend. (AccuWeather image)

Thursday will be the warmest day of 2016 to date. Granted, the bar has not been set very high, but we are looking at sunshine and likely our first 27C (80F) day, of the year. We start off this Thursday much warmer than it has been this week, already at 12C (54F) here on L'Ile Perrot. High pressure will dominate the day with light winds and bright sunshine.

That is the good news, and I should probably stop now. As I have mentioned before, spring is a highly changeable time of year. And 2016 has been an especially good example. In the last week, snow has fallen across the lower North Shore, while searing heat and intense wildfires have swept portions of western Canada. Now, heavy snow is forecast in Alberta, with snowfall warnings in place for the foothills west of Calgary towards Banff. In addition, strong thunderstorms have produced major flooding and multiple tornadoes over the central and southern US. Dozens of tornadoes occurred in the Monday-through-Wednesday time frame, with fatalities and injuries.

That brings us back to Montreal and southern Quebec. After the warmth of today, a series of cold fronts will impact the region Friday into Saturday. Showers and perhaps some thunderstorms can be expected, before much colder and windy weather arrives on Sunday. Temperatures by Sunday will struggle to reach 10C (50F), with overnight lows near the freezing point by Monday morning in southern Quebec and Ontario. Temperatures will slowly moderate next week, with a much warmer Victoria Day weekend expected at this time.