January over - Super Groundhog Sunday

The famous Pennsylvania Groundhog Phil and his Ontario counterpart Wiarton Willie will both try to predict an end to this wacky - frigid winter on Sunday morning. www.groundhog.org

Well is would seem we are about to make it through another January in Montreal. It was a bizarre one to say the least with frigid cold surrounding one week of well above normal temperatures, melting snow and flooding. Add to that wicked winds for most of this past week, including overnight when a frontal system produced a surprise gust to 79km/h at Trudeau Airport around 2:30am. It was also a relatively tame month in the snow department with only about 15cm (6 inches) for the entire month. What has fallen over December and January remains piled high everywhere.

We will begin to add to those numbers as February begins with several snowy low pressure areas expected over the next week to 10 days. Today will be breezy and mild as a frontal system clears the area and is replaced by high pressure for the rest of the day and into Saturday morning. Temperatures will warm to -1C today and drop off to -10C tonight. On Saturday clouds will thicken early as a low pressure area moves down the St. Lawrence Valley. Snow will develop by noon and continue into Sunday morning before skies clear out Sunday afternoon. Accumulations will range from 5cm to as much as 15cm north of the city. We then get a break for Monday and Tuesday with seasonable cold temperatures. Another storm may affect Montreal and southern Quebec by next Wednesday. The track and intensity are yet to be determined but the likelihood of some snow is beginning to increase.

Super Groundhog Sunday
This is the weekend when both Punsxsutawney Phil, Wiarton Willie and Peyton Manning all come out to play on the same day. We shall see if winter will last or end early, my bet is the lasting part this year regardless of what the furry forecaster says. As far as the Super Bowl goes, it will be played in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in a cold weather stadium, for the first time. The weather looks decent for February in metro New York. On Sunday a cold front is expected with clouds and scattered showers, but a rather mild high of between 45 to 48F (5 to 8C) by game time.