Montreal to remain on the warm side of powerful storm

A clipper system on Saturday brought a little more snow than expected, with nearly 15cm falling on the Montreal region.

Windy weather, with mixed precipitation and rapidly changing temperatures forecast for the next 24-36 hours across the Montreal region.

A late season winter storm located in northern Illinois Sunday afternoon, will strengthen rapidly as the center moves into the central Great Lakes and eventually western Quebec on Monday. Montreal will remain on the warm side of the storm, with mixed precipitation, strong winds and warming temperatures.

The winter that just won't end produced another shot of snow Saturday, leaving roads slippery from Montreal to Cornwall and north to Ottawa. (Photo: Cornwall & Seaway Valley Road Reports)

A warm front associated with the storm is lifting northward across our region Sunday afternoon, with a burst of snow. The snow will be short-lived, with perhaps 1-2cm at most locations. Temperatures will begin to warm rapidly overnight on strong south winds, gusting up to 60km/h at times. Montreal should reach 5C (41F) by sunrise, with a high of 14C (56F) expected on Monday. The warmth will not last long, with a very strong cold front arriving late in the day. That front will be accompanied by gusty winds, heavy rain, possible thunderstorms and rapidly dropping temperatures.

As temperatures drop behind the cold front Monday night, any leftover rain will change to snow across southern Quebec. Several centimetres are possible by Tuesday morning. Roads may be slippery for the Tuesday morning commute. The temperature will fall up to 20 degrees over just a few hours, with morning lows down to -5C (23F) in Montreal. The high Tuesday will be steady around -5C, with strong west to northwest winds, flurries and blowing snow. Tuesday night will be cold, dropping to -13C (9F).

This storm is having far-reaching impacts, including an historic blizzard from Iowa and Minnesota into Wisconsin, upper Michigan and central Ontario. Some locations around the northern Great Lakes may see as much as 75cm of snow. A swath of freezing rain to the east and south of the snow will result in 15-25mm of ice accretion. In addition to the snow, winds wrapping around the deep low pressure, will reach over 100km/h, with some locations near Lake Superior expecting gusts to hurricane force.

In the warm sector, heavy damaging thunderstorms and tornadoes are expected from the Ohio Valley and Midwest into the deep south.