January thaw continues

This is the part of winter I don't like! Dirty, massive piles of snow and ice dot the foggy landscape Saturday night in Pointe Claire, Quebec. (ValleyWX)

Winter seems to have taken a break in Montreal replaced with a messy mix of frozen, dirty snow and icy sidewalks. Milder air over the weekend meant rain for all of southern Quebec with freezing rain at the onset Saturday morning. The freezing rain prompted more major delays at Trudeau Airport as well as numerous accidents on area highways especially northeast of Montreal. The mild air is here to stay, the arctic air of last week having been replaced by a westerly Pacific flow. It is at 0C this morning, but will warm to 5C (41F) today and 4C (39F) Tuesday. Clouds will increase today followed by showers tonight and Tuesday. Wednesday looks a little cooler at 0C (32F) with a few flurries around. No major cold or snow is expected in Montreal for the balance of this week. It will turn colder by the weekend - but near normal - not the brutal stuff we had last week.

Once the rainy, mild weather took over the next set of problems evolved, flooding and ice. The ground is still frozen solid, so despite the mild air, there is still a ton of ice around. Ice jams and increased runoff from rain and melting snow has caused flooding along numerous rivers and lakes across southern Quebec and into New England. Riviere-des-Prairies north of Laval has flooded in places as have the Salmon River, St Francis near Sherbrooke and the Tomifobia in Hatley. Several farms in the Cookshire-Eaton region of the Townships reported major flooding on Sunday. Flooding is also occurring across portions of Vermont and New York.