Another round of strong winds for southern Quebec Sunday

Strong winds, up to 100km/h in parts of Quebec, cut power to over 100,000 Hydro-Quebec clients on Friday. The utility had over 500 crews working on the outages, and the number has since been reduced to 25,000. Another strong frontal boundary will produce wind gusts to 80km/h overnight and Sunday. (Hydro-Québec Photo)

NEW: YELLOW Snow Squall watch in effect for Montreal. Forecast Confidence: High / Impact Level: Moderate. Strong winds up to 80km/h are possible Sunday.

We just came off a wind event that resulted in power outages to over 100,000 Hydro-Quebec customers. As of Saturday evening, close to 25,000 remain without power in the province. On Friday, winds gusted between 80 and 90km/h in the Montreal region, and well over 100km/h in other parts of the province. The culprit was deep low pressure that moved well north of the Saint Lawrence Valley. A strong arctic boundary trailing from the front, was the focus for the fierce southwest and west winds along with some snow squalls and rapidly falling temperatures.

After a few hours of rare sunshine early Saturday morning, clouds are on the increase again as yet another clipper system passes north of Montreal. More flurries and strong winds are forecast for Saturday night and Sunday across southern Quebec and Ontario. (Valley Weather Photo)

In advance of the front, temperatures soared across southern Quebec, reaching a record-setting 12.6C (54F) in Montreal, smashing the 1979 record of 8.3C (47F). The warmth came in what had been to date, one of the coldest and snowiest starts to the winter season in decades in Montreal. But within hours, our entire snow cover is gone in the city, with just patches remaining. We may refresh the snow cover over the next couple of days and salvage a white Christmas here in the south, but that has yet to be seen.

Another strong wind event is on our doorstep as another clipper type system passes close to Montreal. Some wet snow or rain overnight, will transition to flurries and snow squalls Sunday as a cold front crosses the region. Once again strong west and southwest winds are likely in advance of and along the front, gusting between 50-80km/h. Temperatures will rise this evening up to and slightly above freezing, then dropping Sunday to -5C (23F) by the noon hour.

Some of the squalls that develop late tonight and early Sunday may be briefly intense, especially along the cold front. There is a chance for 2 to 5cm of snow locally. Roads may become icy and snow covered and visibility greatly reduced in the most intense squalls.

Skies clear out briefly late Sunday, before more weak clipper systems impact our region late Monday and Tuesday.