Wet and windy storm to start the winter season

A strong, unseasonably warm storm will move down the St. Lawrence Valley on Friday. Expect freezing rain in Montreal tonight, changing to heavy rain on Friday. (AccuWeather.com)

Freezing Rain Warning in effect for the St. Lawrence and Ottawa Valley.
Heavy Rain Warning posted for eastern and southern Ontario.

The winter solstice occurs at 5:23pm on Friday afternoon, marking the official start to winter. However, you wont be able to tell by the weather, as a warm, wet and windy storm arrives in southern Quebec and Ontario.

Strong low pressure will move north from the Gulf of Mexico into the eastern Great Lakes later today, and eventually down the St. Lawrence Valley. The storm will be packed with moisture, as well as a surge of very mild air. Precipitation will arrive this evening and overnight in the form of freezing rain across our area. Significant amounts of ice are possible, especially north and east of Montreal. Widespread freezing rain warnings have been issued by Environment Canada. Expect 10 to 20mm of ice accretion before the precipitation changes to rain on Friday. I think Montreal will be on the lower end of the freezing rain amount, but enough is expected to make travel dangerous overnight. On Friday, precipitation will transition to plain rain, as the temperature soars to 6C (43F) in Montreal. The rain will be heavy at times, with up to 25mm expected. Some regions may see as much as 50mm of rain. Isolated flooding is possible, especially in locations that have deeper snowpack. In addition to the heavy precipitation, strong winds are expected to develop on Friday, gusting over 50km/h in Montreal and up to 90km/h in northern New England.

As the storm system moves northeast of Montreal on Saturday, colder air will filter back into southern Quebec. Any precipitation will change back to light snow by Saturday afternoon, with temperatures dropping back below freezing. A dusting to several centimetres of snow are possible depending on the timing of the changeover. Sunday through Christmas Day are expected to be partly cloudy with a few flurries and much colder. The colder weather should persist through next week.