Warming trend brings heavy snow & freezing rain to Montreal

Another round of heavy snow across southern Quebec brought morning traffic to a standstill in Montreal. For the third consecutive day, area highways were snow packed with black ice everywhere. Transport Quebec reported dozens of accidents on and off the Island of Montreal. (Valley Weather Photo)

Snowfall Warning: Ile Perrot, Vaudreuil-Dorion & Valleyfield
Freezing Rain Warning: Southern Quebec
Winter Storm Warning: Ottawa Valley & Eastern Ontario

A strong warm front has been the focus for heavy snow this morning across southwestern Quebec. As of 11am, over 12cm had fallen here on Ile Perrot, with another 5 to 10cm possible this afternoon. The snow has made a mess of roads across metro Montreal, with many commuters taking over two hours to reach the city. Conditions continue to be very poor on area highways with Transport Quebec reporting numerous accidents across all regions of southern Quebec.

Precipitation will change over to freezing rain later this evening in Montreal and eventually rain overnight. The temperature has been rising very slowly here in the St. Lawrence Valley, up to our current reading of -10C (14F). If all goes as planned, the warm air should eventually win over, with temperatures rising above freezing late tonight here in the city. The high on Thursday will be near 5C (41F), reached early in the morning. A cold front will arrive in the afternoon accompanied by strong winds up to 60km/h. Any rain will change back to snow and continue into the evening hours. The temperature will fall to -1C (30F) by the evening commute.