Mild start - cold end to week for southern Quebec & Ontario

Arctic cold and snow across northern Manitoba at Churchill over the weekend is spreading south, however it will stay away from southern Quebec for now. (Tundra Inn Photo)

It looks like we have caught yet another break early in this fall/winter season. What looked like potentially our first snowfall for Montreal will not materialize this week. Low pressure responsible for an arctic outbreak across Western Canada will lift north and west of Montreal across the Ottawa Valley putting the St. Lawrence Valley in the mild air. What was originally expected to be a cold and snowy day Wednesday will now be a mild and showery day. The weather in Montreal through Wednesday will feature partly cloudy skies with an occasional shower around. It will be breezy and mild with high temperatures either side of 10C (50F). Overnight lows will be mild as well, remaining above freezing around 4C (39F). The much talked about arctic freeze which has had the U.S. media abuzz lately, will amount to a couple of cold days at the end of the week for southern Quebec. Temperatures will fall several degrees below normal by Friday with gusty winds and highs near the freezing point. There is the chance of some light snow next weekend for Montreal.

It is very cold however across western Canada this morning. Temperatures from Alberta to northwest Ontario are well below freezing as cold as -23C at Garden River, Alberta and -13C in Edmonton. Windchill readings are in the minus 20's. It is much the same in Saskatchewan with Swift Current at -18C (0F). Snow is spreading across the southern Prairies into the far western Great Lakes where as much as 20cm (8 inches) may fall today. Snow is also occurring from Montana into Minnesota.