Cold & unsettled for Montreal

Beautiful Fleming Mill on the shores of the St. Lawrence River in LaSalle on Wednesday. (ValleyWX Pic) 

Cold air is well established in Ontario and Quebec this morning with -1C (30F) here on L'Ile Perrot with a general frost. Frost and below freezing temperatures are widespread across southern Ontario and Quebec including -3C in Ottawa. Some icy spots are being reported on bridges and elevated surfaces so begin to sharpen those winter driving skills.

SNOW TIRES
As always my snow tires went on yesterday, before Halloween. During the fall of 1992 I was working for the Gazette in Lorraine north of Montreal, and got caught in a November 1 snowstorm with the wrong tires. It was terrible and since that day I always put them on before Halloween. Actually most experts will tell you that under 7C (45F), regular tires begin to lose grip. So snow or not it is a good idea to start thinking about the change. Of course you do not have to have them installed until December 15 by law, but that to me is ridiculously late.

Some early snow tire customers including my Saturn (in stall 1) at Gordons Goodyear on Cavendish and St. Jacques Wednesday morning. Time to do it and avoid the rush.

Speaking of snow, several centimetres of lake effect snow has fallen across the lee of Georgian Bay near Barrie this morning. Some icy spots on bridges and roads are causing isolated travel issues. The precipitation should change over to showers later this morning. The weather in Montreal will remain unsettled and cold right up to Halloween. A series of fronts will deliver lots of clouds with occasional showers starting late this afternoon and lasting well into early next week. Temperatures will be cold with highs of around 7C (45F) and lows near 0C. It will be even colder next week with overnight lows below freezing for Montreal. Some snowflakes are even likely in the lower elevations with perhaps a coating to a few centimetres in the mountains of the Townships, Vermont and New York.