Soaking rain to start - much warmer weather on the horizon

Dark clouds advance across the Montreal region on Tuesday, as a stubborn, chilly and moist airmass remained in place over the last few days. There was even some overnight frost reported outside the metro locations. Warmer weather is on the way for the upcoming holiday weekend. (Valley Weather Photo)

Spring has certainly been off to a rather slow start across southern Quebec, with a frequent chill in the air. Even over the weekend when the sun was out, a chilly wind held temperatures down in the lower teens. We may see that change over the course of the next week.

After a couple of cold nights, cloud cover managed to keep overnight lows near 10C (50F) in Montreal. This will set the stage for a slow warming trend into next week.

To start however, we are dealing with several areas of low pressure, the main culprits off the New England coast and a secondary system over Michigan. A warm front will lift north of Montreal over the next 24 hours, accompanied by a soaking rain. There may even be a rumble or two of thunder. Amounts will range from 15-30mm over the region.

Thankfully the flood risk has lowered to the point that many municipalities are removing pumps and flood barriers. The level Wednesday morning in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue was at 23.11 metres, now below minor flood stage which is set at 23.30 metres. Some fluctuation in levels may occur over the next few days, but it appears the spring flood risk is now over for the Montreal region.

After two days of cloudy, wet weather, sunshine is set to return for the upcoming Victoria Day holiday weekend. Highs will climb to near 21C (70F) all weekend, with lows warming into the low teens. By Monday and Tuesday, our daytime highs may nudge to the warmest reading so far this year as we push 25C (77F), locally even warmer close to the Ontario and New York borders.