Unsettled cold wet start to May in Montreal

A late season winter storm dumped 6 to 12 inches of snow on portions of Colorado including metro Denver. (Photo A. Comeau)

The wet weather of April will sadly continue into the start of May across southern Quebec. Flood concerns are easing for the time being, but are highly dependent on the upcoming rainy weather. To date 150.8mm of precipitation has fallen in Montreal for the month of April. With just a few hours left in the month, and rain to our west, we may nudge into second place or perhaps even first, 158.8mm set in 2005. Unfortunately we are looking at very cool temperatures this Sunday morning, only 4C (39F) currently. With increasing northeast winds and cloud cover, expect a very cool day in Montreal, perhaps 6C (43F) for a high. Clouds and rain along with cool weather will prevail for most of this upcoming week.

A powerful wedge tornado shown on the ground near Canton, Texas Saturday evening. (Weather Nation Photo)

Fire and Ice
A strengthening storm system located over the central US, is forecast to move into the Great Lakes on Monday. A warm front ahead of the storm, will produce rain in southern Ontario and Quebec over the next 24 to 36 hours. Amounts may exceed 50mm (2 inches), especially where thunderstorms occur. There may even be some wet snow in the upper elevations of southern Quebec, New York and Vermont and the backside of the storm late Monday.

This storm had been powerful and deadly. Strong thunderstorms and long lasting tornadoes occurred in Texas and Oklahoma on Saturday evening. In Canton, Texas, five fatalities and multiple injuries were reported from a large and violent wedge tornado. Widespread damage was reported across central and northeast Texas. Lightning from the severe storms also sparked several house fires. Elsewhere, torrential rain has produced major flooding in Missouri and Arkansas, northward into Illinois. On the backside of the storm, unseasonably cold air is producing a narrow band of heavy wet snow and near blizzard conditions. The snow stretched from Colorado, including metro Denver where nearly 8 inches fell, northeast across western Kansas. Snow is forecast into the Dakotas, Minnesota, southern Manitoba and northwest Ontario today into Monday. The late season heavy snow has toppled trees and power lines.