Spring slowly arriving across southern Quebec

For the second year in a row, snow fell on the day I was removing my winter tires. Perhaps this was the last snow of the season last Wednesday, April 16, with 1cm reported at Trudeau Airport. Accumulations ranged from 1-3cm across most locations, confined mostly to grassy and cool surfaces. To date 7cm has fallen this April at Trudeau, with 58.2mm of rain. My feeling is that we are now done with the snow until next fall. (Valley Weather)  

The warm weather has been slow to arrive across Southern Quebec this Spring. The grass is slowly showing signs of growth and the buds are appearing on the trees finally. It has been the same across most of the country this April. On this Easter Monday, Montreal dropped below freezing, with scattered frost reported. Snow is falling across portions of northern Ontario around Thunder Bay and Lake Superior, as well as strong storm is expected to drop 10 to 20cm on parts of northwestern Newfoundland.

Here in Montreal, this morning and Sunday's chill were in stark contrast to the warm and dare I say humid conditions on Saturday. Many locations across the region had there warmest day of the year Saturday, with the official high reaching 20.5C (69F) at Trudeau Airport. Some South Shore locations, including Saint Anicet, surpassed the 21C (70F) mark. A windy cold front produced showers and thunderstorms, resulting in Sunday temperatures being as much as 15 degrees colder.

Sunshine will prevail Monday for Montreal, but another frontal boundary associated with low pressure over the Great Lakes, will lift across the St. Lawrence Valley this evening and into the overnight hours. Expect clouds to thicken quickly late Monday, followed by a few hours of rain. The rain will taper to showers early Tuesday morning, followed by clearing. Sunshine returns through Friday morning.

Temperatures will remain close to the long-term average this week, with highs in the middle teens (55F) and morning lows between 3C and 5C (39 to 41F). The work week will be mainly dry after Tuesday, with the next chance for rain and warmer weather arriving by next weekend.