Record warmth surges into eastern Canada

Freezing rain in Quebec City produced downed trees and widespread power outages. (Radio Canada)

Unseasonably warm temperatures for February surged into southern and eastern Ontario and Quebec over the last 24 hours. As per usual, the cold held on firm here in Montreal, taking at least 20 hours to scour out of the St. Lawrence Valley.  As locations to the south and west of Montreal warmed into the teens on Tuesday, Montreal remained just above the freezing point. At Trudeau Airport, the temperature stayed stuck between 0C and 1C (32-33F) for over 15 hours, and another 8 hours at 2C (36F). Finally on Wednesday morning, the temperature surged up to and over 10C (50F) in sections of the city.  The warm weather has generated dozens of record highs in Ontario and Quebec, including the national hotspot of 18.6C (66F) at Vineland, Ontario. In Quebec, Frelighsburg was 18.1C (65F), smashing the previous record high of 10.4C (51F) set in 1996. St Anicet, Quebec reached 10.7C (52F), with 10.2C (51F) at McGill in downtown Montreal, both records for the date.

Accompanying the warmth was heavy rainfall. I measured 22.2mm of rain on L'Ile Perrot from late Monday through Wednesday morning. Minor flooding was reported in Ontario, but little in Quebec so far. South of the border in upstate New York and Vermont, temperatures reached nearly 21C (70F). Rapid snowmelt combined with ice jams, produced flooding on several northern New England rivers.

Northeast of Montreal, the problem was freezing rain, with the mercury hovering just below the freezing point. Over 15mm of ice accumulation resulted in downed tree branches and power lines. Hydro Quebec reported over 122,000 subscribers in the dark, this included 107,000 in Quebec City alone.

A cold front moving across Ontario Wednesday afternoon, will bring more seasonable air back into the region. Montreal can expect a low of -7C (19F) tonight, with highs on Thursday remaining below freezing at -3C (27F). Mild air and showers will move back into southern Quebec this weekend.