First snowflakes may fly in Montreal by Halloween night

Say it ain't so! The first snowflakes of the season for the St. Lawrence Valley may be in the air as early as Halloween night or Saturday morning. Before then we can expect a mild but unsettled week as low pressure forms over the Great Lakes and moves northeast towards Hudson Bay. It will lift a warm front across southwest Quebec this evening followed by the cold front late Tuesday. Showers will develop this evening and again late Tuesday. In between we can expect some sunny breaks along with a mild push of air on gusty southwest winds. That should help temperatures to rise to 12C (54F) today and up to 16 to 18C (60-65F) on Tuesday. Overnigh lows will be around 6C (43F).

Enjoy the mild weather as the coldest air of the season is forecast to arrive by Friday night. An upper level low will help pull down the cold air by late in the week with rain showers on Friday changing to flurries or snow showers late Halloween night and tapering off Saturday. Some areas may see a coating of snow, especially across the Laurentians and Townships. We will have to monitor the systems development as the week moves along. Temperatures will only be 6C (43F) for a high Friday with a low dropping into the minus 3C (26F) range by Saturday morning. Frost or a hard freeze is likely this weekend everywhere. In any event the last week of October is always the time I head over to Gordons Service in N.D.G. to get the winter tires on and this year is no different. Time to put the winter preparations into to full gear, once we are on the other side of Halloween, we are at the mercy of the seasons.