Storm a little less intense for Montreal - that was good news

Crews take advantage of a few hours of above freezing temperatures on Monday to plow away the 10mm of ice that accumulated overnight on Ile Perrot. The Montreal region had a huge break, as less precipitation and warmer temperatures resulted in less ice buildup. (Valley Weather)

I was very concerned with the forecast Sunday. The storm that just deposited 10-15mm of freezing rain on southern Quebec looked quite intense, with a path that would result in prolonged freezing rain for Montreal, followed by very strong winds and frigid cold. The result would have been significant and long-lasting power outages for our region. The threat was real and the forecast credible.

In the end, the difference was a track a little further north, as well as a much stronger storm. The result was slightly warmer and drier air being pulled into the Montreal region, allowing the freezing rain to change over to rain sooner, and most of the ice melting off the trees before the wind arrived. It was a gift. Even with that, Hydro-Quebec reported over 20,000 customers left without power, as well there were several serious accidents. Ice coated roads, sidewalks and parking lots, resulting in emergency rooms being flooded with a spike in patients with broken bones from falls.

Treacherous driving conditions Monday morning resulted in several serious accidents, including this one on Highway 20 just west of Morgan Road. Transport Québec closed the highway late Monday evening into the wee hours Tuesday to remove the truck from the ditch. (Photo Stéphane Brunet - Urgence Vaudreuil)

This storm was a beast. The center is currently spinning over central Quebec, with a deep central pressure below 970mb. Snow is being measured in feet around the Great Lakes, along with winds that approached 100km/h. Numerous highways have been closed and travel is not recommended, including west of Toronto on Highways 401 and 402 and north into the Barrie region and areas east of Lake Huron. The same is true south of Lakes Erie and Ontario in Western New York.

In southern Quebec, Trudeau reported 10.8mm of freezing rain, with a peak wind of 72km/h. Winds gusted to 81km/h at Saint Hubert Airport. In Ontario, a 106km/h wind gust was observed at Point Petre on Lake Ontario, with waves of over 20 feet reported on the open waters of the Great Lakes. North of Montreal, 21cm of snow fell in Rouyn along with blizzard conditions. South of the border several rare tornadoes were observed in Illinois and Indiana.

Meanwhile in Montreal, it is just windy and cold. Winds have been gusting in the 50-70km/h range Tuesday, with temperatures hovering around -13C (8F), with windchill readings in the mid -20s. Flurries are possible along with frigid cold into the overnight and New Year's Eve.

Windy, icy storm underway for Montreal and southern Quebec

Freezing Rain Warning in effect for Montreal. Orange Warning: Impact High - Forecast Confidence High

Precipitation has been fairly light so far in the Montreal region, but has still accumulated several millimetres of ice on trees and roadways. More freezing rain is forecast Monday, along with strong to damaging southwest winds up to 90km/h Monday afternoon. Widespread weather warnings are in effect across Ontario, Quebec, New York and New England. (Valley Weather Photo)

Wind Warning in effect for the St. Lawrence Valley. Yellow Warning: Impact: Moderate - Forecast Confidence: High. Wind gusts to 90km/h possible.

Strong low pressure has deepened rapidly over the last 24 hours to a sub 975mb low near upper Michigan. The storm will continue to strengthen while lifting into central Quebec on Monday.

Precipitation has overspread southern Quebec along a trailing warm front early Monday morning, with several millimetres of ice accretion already occurring. Temperatures remain below freezing, near -3C (27F), and will slowly warm to the freezing point later today. More rain is moving in from the southwest early Monday, so we can expect several more hours of freezing rain, with up to 15mm possible for Montreal, and up to 25mm in parts of the Ottawa Valley. Well north of Montreal, heavy snow is expected, with 15-25cm forecast.

A strong cold front will move across the region late Monday afternoon, with much colder air surging in behind it. Temperatures will fall from highs of 1CV )33F) today down to -12C (10F) by Tuesday morning. Windchill values will plumet into the minus 20s.

Along the front, winds will gust from the southwest and west up to 90km/h in the St. Lawrence Valley. The combination of ice covered trees and hydro lines will result in the potential for significant power outages across the region Monday afternoon. Winds will increase by late afternoon and early evening, easing back to 50 to 70km/h overnight and Tuesday.

Any precipitation will change back over to light snow and blowing snow late Monday.

Expect very icy roads and sidewalks today, along with strong winds and sporadic power outages later today. As of 6:15AM Monday, around 4000 Hydro-Quebec clients have no power, most are in the Montérégie, where icy precipitation has been the heaviest so far. 

Travel is very slow and icy Monday morning. Slow down! Call ahead to Trudeau Airport, where some delays and cancelations are being reported, especially to other eastern Canadian locations where poor weather is already occurring.

Significant freezing rain forecast for Montreal

The combination of freezing rain and strong winds may result in significant power outages across portions of Ontario and Quebec from late Sunday into Monday evening. Up to 15mm of ice accretion is possible in the St. Lawrence Valley. (Hydro-Quebec Photo)

Orange Warning: Freezing Rain. Impact Level: High - Forecast Confidence: High

Strong low pressure will combine with arctic high pressure at the surface to produce and extended period of freezing rain across southwestern Quebec and eastern Ontario from late Sunday into late Monday afternoon. A warm front will be the focus of steady freezing rain along with gusty northeast winds in the St. Lawrence Valley.

Cold arctic high pressure will keep chilly air at the surface here in the St. Lawrence Valley, while a strengthening winter storm moves across the central Great Lakes towards Montreal. A second area of low pressure is forecast to develop south of Montreal on Monday. The combination of both these low pressure areas, will produce up to 15mm of ice accretion across the St. Lawrence Valley. Precipitation may briefly turn to rain across extreme southern areas on Monday, but it will be short in nature as cold air quickly returns.

Travel will be very difficult from late Sunday into the Monday morning commute. Roads and sidewalks will be extremely slippery. The weight of ice on trees and wires may produce significant disruptions to the power grid.

Temperatures will warm very slowly Sunday night, up to 0C (32F) on Monday. As the low moves to our east, a strong cold front will usher in freezing temperatures along with strong northwest winds in excess of 60km/h. Any leftover precipitation will end as snow and blowing snow Monday afternoon. The combination of ice and increasing northwest winds may result in additional power outages.

Plan now for dangerous travel and the risk of extended power outages. Much colder air will follow in the wake of the storm, with lows Monday night in Montreal as cold as -12C (14F). Temperatures will remain very cold into the New Year.

White Christmas for Montreal?

Despite the 34cm that has fallen this December in Montreal, we were looking at another green Christmas. That changed Monday evening with a quick hitting 1-2cm of snow. This will be followed by another 5-10cm of fresh snow on Tuesday. So if snow is your thing for the holidays, you should be happy. Drive safe. (Valley Weather Photo)

If snow at the Holidays is your thing, then you will have an 11th hour reprieve. It certainly looked guaranteed for most of Canada in 2025, but then the "blowtorch" set up across the southwestern US and has been pumping very warm air northward. As a matter of fact, several parts of the US, right up to the Great Lakes can expect record-breaking warmth for Christmas Day.

That warm air will remain just to the South of Montreal and the St. Lawrence Valley, and that may lead to bigger problems for southern Ontario and Quebec by the weekend, in the form of significant freezing rain. More on that later in the week. For now, our attention turns to the Christmas Day travel forecast.

Environment Canada defines a white Christmas as 2cm or more on the ground at your location at 7am, December 25th. Montreal in 2023 had no snow on the ground, a more common occurrence of late. Last December, 10cm fell on Christmas Eve, just in time. This year we can expect the same. Another in a never-ending series of Alberta Clippers is set to swing across the Great Lakes and south of Montreal Tuesday.

Snow will begin midday today and end after midnight. A general 5-10cm is forecast for Montreal and the Ottawa Valley. Higher elevations may see 10 to 15cm. There is the chance of a little light freezing drizzle mixing in as well this afternoon. Temperatures will warm to around -3C (27F) for Tuesday, cooling back down to -6C (21F) tonight.

Roads will become snow covered and travel a little slow today. As we witnessed during the Monday evening commute in Montreal, it does not take much snow to make travel difficult. Light snow accumulated a quick 1.4cm at Trudeau Airport Monday afternoon. The result was numerous accidents in the Montreal region, even with the lighter-than-normal holiday volume.

The message is the same, adjust your speed, avoid sudden moves and clean off your vehicle. Take the extra time and arrive alive. There have been so many serious accidents this month.

Christmas Day looks calm for our region, with perhaps a few flurries along with cold temperatures. More active weather is on the way for the weekend. I will have more on that later this week.

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.

Wind warnings in effect for the Montreal region

Crews will get a brief break over the next 36 hours, as snow is replaced by rain and mild temperatures. A strong arctic front will plunge temperatures back below freezing Friday afternoon in Montreal, with strong winds and flurries forecast into Saturday morning. More snow is possible on Sunday.

Yellow Wind Warning for southern Quebec. Impact Level: Moderate / Forecast Confidence: High

Environment Canada has issued wind warnings for most of southern Quebec. Strong and gusty southwest winds will develop Thursday evening in advance of deep low pressure moving across northern Ontario into central Quebec. In advance of the storm, southwest winds will push very warm air into the St. Lawrence Valley into Friday morning. Winds will gust up to 70km/h. Temperatures will soar to well-above normal values of 8C (48F) on Friday morning. In a month that has been so cold, it is hard to believe we may have a record high on Friday. The current record is 8.3C (48F), set in 1949.

The surge of warm air will be short-lived as a powerful arctic front will cross the Montreal region during the afternoon hours. Temperatures will fall quickly behind the front on strong northwest winds, gusting up to 100km/h. The wind should ease by midnight. Winds this strong are capable of power outages and tree damage. Winds may even exceed 100km/h on the South Shore.

A steady soaking rain, up to 15mm is likely along the leading edge of the cold air Friday morning. There may even be a rumble or two of thunder in the St. Lawrence Valley. Behind the front, any leftover precipitation will change over to snow showers and flurries, with blowing snow possible for any locations that receive accumulations. The temperatures will fall well below freezing by evening, down to -10C (14F) by Saturday morning.

This storm has had a history of strong and damaging winds, from southern British Columbia across the Prairies and into northwestern Ontario. Power outages have been widespread, with even injuries and one fatality reported from the wind. In southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba, the wind was accompanied by heavy snow and plummeting temperatures, producing several hour of blizzard conditions, with numerous road closures.

The warm air on Friday will surge into the central portion of Quebec, but will only last a few hours. Heavy snow, blowing snow and dangerous cold will rapidly replace the warm air north of Montreal, as winter surges back into that region by Friday afternoon. Travel may become quite difficult in many parts of Ontario and Quebec Friday afternoon and evening.

Brief warming trend followed by cold weather through the holidays for Montreal

A snowy scene along Sennevile Road late last week. To date 60cm of snow has already fallen at Trudeau Airport since November 1st, and winter has not officially started. A warming trend this week will eat away at the snow pack, but it should be refreshed starting Saturday, as colder air returns. (Valley Weather)

The winter solstice does not occur until December 21st, regardless it certainly has been a cold, snowy stretch of weather for southern Quebec. Monday was another frigid morning, with -15C (5F) at Trudeau Airport, along with windchill values in the minus 20s. The bitterly cold weather will persist for one more day, before a significant, however brief warm up occurs. Enjoy the mild weather, as it appears our region will remain below freezing from Saturday through the end of the month.

It has been the winter of the clipper so far. Another series of weak clipper systems will impact the St. Lawrence valley and parts of Ontario and Quebec this week. On Monday and Tuesday we can expect flurries, with high temperatures in Montreal around -5C (23F).

By Wednesday, another weak area of low pressure is expected to pass north of the city, allowing warmer air to be drawn into our region. Highs are expected above freezing, 3C (38F), with flurries changing to showers.

On Thursday, a stronger low pressure will pass north of Montreal once again, with a steady rain possible. Gusty southwesterly winds will draw in even warmer air, with highs close to 5C (41F). The warm weather will come to abrupt end on Friday, as a strong cold front sweeps across the region. Rain will change to snow, accompanied by strong northwest winds. The timing of the front along with amount of precipitation will be determined at the event draws closer, but expect a difficult driving day for some regions at some point on Friday. Temperatures will fall from daytime highs of 5C (41F) down to -17C (2F) by Saturday morning.

The active, highly changeable weather this week may lead to icy, difficult road conditions at times. If you have travel plans listen for the latest forecasts and updates and for any weather warnings which may be issued later this week.