Plenty of precipitation and big temperature swings for Montreal over the next week

If you don't like the weather in Montreal this Spring, just wait a few hours, it will change. I took the photo above on March 19, on an otherwise sunny Sunday, that went rogue for a few minutes before the sun returned. Southern Quebec has been on a temperature roller coaster over the last two weeks, complete with snow, sleet, freezing rain, wind, thunder and lightning! (Valley Weather Photo)

Spring is certainly not for the faint of heart here in southern Quebec. This week is a prime example of how angry the season can be. As I mentioned in a previous post, it is a volatile weather season, with some of the biggest swings in temperature you will see during any given year, accompanied by intense and at times severe weather.

On Wednesday, Montreal reached a high of 10C (50F) around 4pm under partly sunny skies and southwest winds. During the evening hours, a strong arctic boundary slipped south of the St. Lawrence Valley, accompanied by intense snow squalls, zero visibility and rapidly dropping temperatures. There was even a few rumbles of thunder to the west and northwest of the city with the frontal passage. By 8pm, the city had dropped all the way back to 0C (32F), with a low Thursday morning of -8C (18F). Thursday was wicked cold for late March, with a high of only 0C (32F) and brutal windchill readings in the minus teens.

Friday will be the calm before another wild weather ride. A developing storm system over the southern plains, will move northeast towards the Great Lakes and across central Quebec on Saturday. A warm front will bring mix of rain and snow to the Montreal region late in the day Friday, with less than 5cm expected for most of us. 

Gusty southwest winds will develop after midnight, along with a surge of warm air resulting in rain, up to 15mm, for the Montreal area. Saturday afternoon, there is the risk of a thunderstorm or two along and south of the St. Lawrence River. Further north, precipitation will remain as snow, with 15-25cm possible in far western Quebec and northeast Ontario.

After a cool day on Friday, temperatures will surge to 12C (54F) on Saturday, the warmest day of 2023 thus far in Montreal. The warmth will be short-lived, as another potent cold front crosses the region Saturday night bringing with it another round of showers and flurries along with dropping temperatures once again. The forecast low by Sunday morning is -9C (16F), along with gusty northwest winds.

The sun returns for Sunday, but temperatures will be cold at 1C (34F), accompanied by northwest winds of 20-40km/h.

We rinse and repeat by the middle of next week. Stay tuned!