Another round of wintery weather for Montreal

Montreal had 5 consecutive days with measurable snow this past week. This is very unusual for November. Another round of snow and freezing rain is on the way for late Saturday into Sunday. The good news is that more seasonable weather is expected by late next week. (Valley Weather)

Special Weather Statement for the risk of freezing rain this weekend in Ontario and southern Quebec.

Another round of freezing rain and snow is expected this weekend for a large portion of Ontario and Quebec. Another complex area of low pressure will move from the central US into the St. Lawrence Valley on Saturday. A warm front will lift across the region, with an area of steady freezing rain mixed with snow ahead of it. Precipitation will start in Ontario Saturday morning reaching Montreal by the evening hours.

Freezing rain warnings are already in effect for western Quebec and the upper Ottawa Valley and they will likely be extended into southern Quebec and eastern Ontario later today or Saturday morning.

Friday will be fair as high pressure tries to nudge into the region. But the airmass is still rather moist and unstable from this week's precipitation and some fog and low clouds may remain for at least the morning. Temperatures will be a touch warmer than they have been all week in Montreal, reaching 4C (39F) on Friday.

Partly cloudy skies Friday night will allow the temperature to fall quickly, down to -5C (23F). Saturday will feature increasing clouds, breezy conditions and eventually the snow and freezing rain mix by late in the day. Highs will be near 0C (32F).

Hydro-Québec is looking at more potential power outages in the province this weekend, with snow and freezing rain in the forecast. The utility is still repairing damage from Monday's snowstorm, that saw as many as 400,000 customers in the dark at height of the event. As of Friday morning the number was down to just under 3000. (Hydro-Québec Photo)

At this time as much as 10mm of ice accretion is possible from Montreal to Cornwall, less north where more snow is likely and south of the city where rain is forecast. That amount of ice will produce very slick roads and sidewalks and possible power outages. This is not good news for the Hydro-Quebec crews that have been working all week repairing the damage from Monday's snowstorm. There are still close to 3000 customers without power.

To complicate matters, a second area of low pressure will develop near New York City and move north into Maine. This will likely change any freezing rain or rain back to all snow on Sunday from west to east as temperatures drop back below freezing from early morning highs in Montreal of 3C (38F).

The good news is that next week looks a touch calmer, with warmer temperatures by the weekend.

Montreal had 5 consecutive days with measurable snow this week at Trudeau Airport. This is quite unusual for November. Total accumulations since Sunday ranged from 15 to 25cm across the Montreal region for the week. Most of that is in the process of melting away as rain has mixed in over the last 36 hours.