Late season nor'easter to bring gusty winds and a cold rain to Montreal

It has been a dull and dismal weather week across Sothern Quebec, with frequent rain, chilly north or northeast winds and low temperatures.

Heat and sweaters have replaced shorts and air conditioners this week across southern Quebec as unseasonable cold air remains stalled over the region along with clouds and occasional rain. 

A late season nor'easter is strengthening off the middle Atlantic coast on Thursday, set to move northeast towards Cape Cod. The storm combined with low pressure spinning over the Great Lakes, will maintain the dismal weather Montreal has been experiencing this week. All across southern Ontario and Quebec, grey skies, occasional showers and a relentless cold north wind have been making May feel more like late March.

Nor'easters are strong ocean storms that develop along the eastern seaboard, and usually bring Montreal some of our larger snowstorms. They are more common during the colder months as opposed to May.

For the near-term, we can expect three more days of showers, along with gusty northeast winds up to 50km/h. Daytime highs will struggle to reach 12C (54F) with cold overnight lows in the 5C to 7C (40 to 45F) range. The normal high should be 21C (70F). The gusty winds will make it feel even colder outdoors.

It could be worse. Closer to the storm center along the southern New England Coast and into Atlantic Canada, heavy rain will fall, with up to 75mm possible. Winds may gust over 90km/h, producing some coastal flooding. Temperatures are so cold, that some of the highest elevations of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine into the Beauce region southeastern Quebec may see some snow accumulate during the overnight hours.

Conditions will try to improve on Sunday. We may see some clearing and slightly warmer temperatures. Unfortunately long-term trends continue to show wet weather to end the month. To date 77.4mm of rain has fallen this month. Since January 1st, some form of precipitation has fallen on just about every weekend, with the exception of two or three at best. This weekend looks no different at the moment.