New winter storm to impact southern Quebec & Ontario

Brief snow squalls on Sunday resulted in several major accidents in southern Quebec. The one above occurred on Highway 40 east of Montreal near L'Assomption. The crash involved over 50 vehicles. Thankfully only minor injuries were reported. (Photo: by Mario Labrecque via The Weather Network)

UPDATE: Special Weather Statement for 5-10cm of snow for metro Montreal.

The next in a series of winter storms is on the horizon for southern Ontario and Quebec. The storm will be followed by the coldest airmass of the season. First we have a very cold Monday on tap after the passage of an arctic boundary late Sunday afternoon. That front produced widespread snow squall activity, that brought zero visibility at times in bursts of heavy snow. The brief squalls resulted in two major accidents on area highways. The first occurred along Highway 640 near Rosemere. The second, involving at least 50 vehicles, occurred near L'Assomption on Highway 40. In the latter case, the road was closed for the entire afternoon while first responders helped the injured, and the damaged vehicles were removed.

After the skies cleared Sunday night, the temperature dropped rapidly in Montreal, down to -20C (-4F). As of late Monday morning, the temperature had only risen a degree to -19 (-2F). Our calm weather will be short-lived as another major storm is forecast to arrive early Tuesday. Low pressure will move across the Great Lakes, dumping steady snow from the upper Midwest into southern Ontario. A second storm is forecast to develop along the US east coast and move northeast towards Atlantic Canada. The combination of both lows will produce a wide swath of 10 to 20cm of snow across eastern Ontario and into southern Quebec. Gusty winds, up to 50km/h, will accompany the snow, producing areas of blowing and drifting. Travel will become difficult on Tuesday across a wide area including New England, New York, Ontario and Quebec. Numerous weather warnings and watches are in effect.

If that were not enough, once the snow ends on Wednesday morning, arctic air will pour into the region. Temperatures will drop into the minus 20s late Wednesday, with windchill readings in the minus 30s.

If you thought January has been rather difficult so far, you would be right. To date, Montreal has received 70cm of snow along with 40mm of rain and freezing rain. The wild temperature swings and thick ice have added to the miserable weather. In comparison, November and December combined only produced 55cm of snow.