East coast storm to deliver snow to southern Quebec

A strong winter storm will produce heavy snow and strong winds across the eastern seaboard on Monday and Tuesday. The snow will arrive in Montreal in the wee hours Tuesday morning, with 10-15cm forecast at this time.

It was a bitterly cold weekend across southern Quebec. Temperatures struggled to rise into the middle minus teens for daytime highs, while dropping into the minus 20s for overnight lows. Sunshine on Sunday eased the chill, but it was still the coldest morning of the winter for most. Morning lows across metro Montreal Sunday were between -21C and -23C. I recorded -23C (-9F) here on Ile Perrot. It was colder off-island, with Vaudreuil at -24C (-11F), Sherbrooke -29C (-20F) and Mont Tremblant -30C (-22F). Monday morning will not be as cold for most, but it will still drop close to -20C. Conditions will improve on Monday, under fair skies, with daytime highs near -8C (18F).

Our attention then turns to a rather complicated storm system that is delivering heavy snow from the midwestern US towards the east coast late Sunday. On Monday low pressure is expected to redevelop off the Delaware coast and move northeast towards Maine while strengthening. The storm will push a shield of moisture north and west of the track across New England and the Northeastern US on Monday and eventually into southern Quebec early Tuesday. Blizzard conditions are possible from New York and Boston into parts of the Maritimes.

At this time, we will remain on the northwest edge of the storm, with 10 to 15cm of snow likely for Montreal, less northwest of the city and more south towards the US border. In the border locations as well as the Eastern Townships, between 15 and 30cm of snow is possible. Warnings may be needed for a portion of our regions. Accompanying the snow will be gusty northeast winds in the St. Lawrence Valley, between 30-50km/h, producing blowing snow at times. More snow is expected on Wednesday, especially from Quebec City towards the Gaspe region. The good news is that temperatures will warm during the snow, up towards -2C (29F) on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The storm will pull into Atlantic Canada on Wednesday with snow tapering to flurries. Expect a fair day Thursday before another storm system arrive for Friday into next weekend.