Has fall finally arrived in eastern Canada?

A panda enjoys the record breaking October snowstorm at the Calgary Zoo Tuesday afternoon. (Photo Calgary Zoo).

On cue, October has started off cool and rainy across southern Quebec. Close to 10mm of rain has fallen in Montreal since late Monday. The temperature has remained rather chilly, with low clouds and east winds, reaching only 11C (52F) Tuesday afternoon. Drizzle and clouds are expected to persist into early Wednesday, before sunshine returns. A brief warming trend is expected Thursday, with the high temperature near 23C (73F). Another potent cold front will bring showers and thunderstorms late in the day, with cool and dry weather expected to return by Friday.

October in Montreal is expected to start off slightly warmer than normal, before colder air arrives during the second half of the month. The St. Lawrence Valley will act as the dividing line between the seasons, with several strong low pressure systems providing our region with rainy, windy weather. (AccuWeather)

The cool weather comes as quite a shock to the system after the unseasonable warm and humid September we experienced. September continued the trend established this summer, with two pronounced heat waves in Montreal, resulting in an average high of 17.6C, 2 degrees above normal. Trudeau Airport officially recorded two more days at or above 30C (86F), bringing the yearly total to 19. I can say with some certainty that this is where it will remain for the year.

Record Alberta Snow
Very cold weather over western Canada has resulted in several rounds of frost, freezing temperatures and even heavy snow. Some of that cold is eventually expected to make it into eastern Canada for the second half of October. Until then, southern Quebec and Ontario will remain on the boundary between very warm and humid weather along the southeast US coast, and the aforementioned western cold.

The cold weather in Alberta produced record snowfall on Tuesday afternoon. Temperatures struggled to make it to the freezing point, along with 25 to 40cm of heavy wet snow. Calgary International Airport reported 20cm of fresh snow as of 11am this morning, with 40cm at Kananaskis. Snowfall warnings remain in effect, with travel not recommended west of Calgary into the foothills.