Groundhog Day snow forecast for Montreal

The 7 to 14cm of snow that fell Wednesday across southwestern Quebec created very dangerous driving conditions, especially when combined with northeast winds and frigid arctic air. There were long delays and numerous accidents reported during the morning commute in metro Montreal. (Valley Weather)

Regardless as to whether or not the Groundhog see's his shadow this Sunday, our active weather and in many case wintry weather pattern will persist. It was another frigid morning in Montreal on Thursday, with morning lows close to -20C (-4F). The 7-14cm of fresh snow that fell across southern Quebec on Wednesday, along with light winds, made for ideal radiational cooling overnight. Wednesday's snow created treacherous driving conditions for the commute, with another round of accidents and long delays in thick traffic reported across the Montreal region.

The weather remains chilly Thursday afternoon, with the temperature struggling to climb in Montreal as I write, with a current reading of -14C (7F). Clouds are already on the increase as our next system moves into Ontario. It is just one of many that will move quickly across the region over the next week, bringing us more snow and big fluctuations in temperature.

The clouds will produce light snow this evening and into the overnight, with only 2-4cm expected from the moisture starved Alberta clipper. Warmer air will arrive from the southwest, with the temperature rising overnight to a high of -5C (23F) Friday. Partly sunny skies are forecast for Friday into Saturday, along with dropping temperatures once again. The low into Saturday drops to -16C (4F), with a cold high of -12C (14F) on Saturday. 

Traffic crawls into Montreal from Ile Perrot on Wednesday morning.

We can expect another cold night into Sunday, with the low close to -20C in Montreal. Another storm system arrives on Groundhog Day Sunday, with more snow forecast. At this time another 5cm looks possible for Montreal. Temperatures will warm into Monday, likely going above freezing for a few hours, before another strong cold front arrives late in the day, with plummeting temperatures into Monday morning.

Precipitation, mostly snow, has fallen in Montreal on 26 of the 29 days so far this month. To date 37.5cm has officially fallen at Trudeau Airport, with well over 40cm in may other locations in southern Quebec during the moth of January. The recent cold temperatures has meant most of that has remained on the ground. As well, the cold temperatures have built up quite a bit of ice on area rivers. The ice road on the Ottawa River between Hudson and Oka officially opened last week, after failing to due so as a result of mild conditions in both 2023 and 2024.