Another round of snow expected in Montreal

A major accident south of Montreal Wednesday, claimed the life of a 70 year old motorist. Excessive speed in very poor road conditions caused this wreck and many more. (CBC Photo)

After the little storm that could crossed the region on Wednesday, February 7, Montreal has now accumulated over 185cm of snow this season. Huge mountains of the white nuisance are everywhere, as municipalities struggle to find new locations to dump it. More is on the way this weekend.

The driver of this transport was very lucky Wednesday evening, surviving a plunge off the Route 342 overpass at Highway 30 in Vaudreuil/ Dorion. (neomedia.com Photo)

Taking a look back at this weeks storm, 15cm fell at Trudeau Airport, with 20cm from L'Ile Perrot across the South Shore towards the US border. In the Eastern Townships, Cowansville measured 35cm. The track of the system actually introduced heavier snow into southern Quebec than previously expected, at least by Environment Canada. The overall amounts in southern Quebec were poorly forecast, and warnings issued very late. The storm generated terrible road conditions. There were numerous major accidents, snarling traffic in the city and especially to the south. Highway 20 was closed in both directions near Mont-Saint-Hilaire after a fatal 50-vehicle pileup. Provincial Police were forced to close both Highway 30 on the South Shore near St Constant, and Highway 10 towards Sherbrooke for lengthy periods. My 45-minute commute home Wednesday evening took 2.5 hours to complete. Highway 40 towards Vaudreuil was blocked for over one hour by multiple collisions, forcing traffic onto alternate routes, clogging them.

After the brief break on Friday, the weather will become unsettled again in Ontario and Quebec. Snow is expected from late Friday evening through Sunday night. The precipitation will not come from one major system, but rather weak impulses of energy riding along a frontal boundary draped just south of Montreal. The snow will be light most of the time, but we are still expecting 10 to 15cm by Sunday evening. There may even be some freezing drizzle sprinkled in for good measure. The temperatures will be rather mild this weekend, around -4C (25F) both Saturday and Sunday, with a low of -8C (18F) both nights.