November heatwave comes to an end for Montreal

The sunset on Tuesday, November 10 was spectacular, fitting for the warmest November day ever recorded in Montreal. (ValleyWeather Photo)

Colder weather has returned to southern Quebec after our remarkable stretch of warm weather. Conditions were similar to late summer then mid-November. By the numbers it was very impressive. There were dozens upon dozens of new record highs established from central Ontario to Atlantic Canada. Many locations also recorded their warmest November temperatures ever. 

In Montreal, we established seven new weather records between November 5 and 10. Records highs were established on November 5, 9, 10 and 11th. On November 10th, not only did we set a daily record, but the high of 22.4C (73F) was the warmest November temperature ever recorded in the city. This surpassed the previous high of 21.7C (71F) set on November 6, 1948. Tuesday's high also represented the latest in November that a 20C temperature has been observed in Montreal. The entire stretch of warmth established another record for the longest 15C plus stretch in the city since record keeping began in the 1870's. Accompanying the warm weather was brilliant sunshine, with some of the most spectacular sunsets I have seen this year.

While we have been enjoying late summer warmth, the southern Prairies have been shivering in biting cold and wind-driven snow. My good friend and Publisher of the Gravelbourg Tribune, Paul Bosivert, sent me this photo of deep snow on
Main Street in Gravelbourg, Saskatchewan. The photo was taken
after the storm subsided on Monday, November 9. 

While all this was playing out in eastern Canada, western portions of the country from B.C. to Manitoba have been plunged into mid-winter conditions. Heavy snow, strong winds and arctic cold have dominated the weather most of this week. The weekend blizzard closed large stretches of highway in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan. Temperatures are slowly returning to normal out west as they are here in southern Quebec.

COLDER WEATHER RETURNS

As I take a peak into the future, it appears our warm weather is over. But that does not necessarily mean we will have bone-chilling cold. Temperatures will settle back within range of the normal high of 5C (41F) and low of -2C (28F). For the upcoming weekend, sunny skies will prevail on Saturday, before a strengthening Great Lakes storm brings us rainy, windy weather for Sunday. By early next week, some of the coldest air of the season will settle into our region, bringing us below freezing temperatures for daytime highs by Wednesday.  Accompanying the cold will be some light snow or flurries. It is too early to tell if we will have some accumulations, but it is possible. Near to slightly below normal temperatures are expected to persist through the end of the month.