Temperature roller coaster ride to start meteorological winter in Montreal

A spectacular early December sky on Île Perrot. If you are a fan of snow, this month may be as disappointing as December 2020 was. The forecast calls for wild temperature swings, with no prolonged cold weather expected. As each storm arrives, so does the mild air, changing snow to rain and back again, with little accumulation.

Welcome to winter in Montreal, looking an awful lot like December 2020. Meteorological winter began on December 1st, and with another moderate La Nina upon us, it is starting to look like this December will look very much like last year. So far snowfall has been minimal across southern Quebec. In November, Trudeau Airport measured a paltry 3.8cm, only 20 percent of the normal of 19cm. The total precipitation for the month was 70mm, below the normal of 96.4mm. The temperature was right around normal for the month, with and average of 2.2C (36F). In general, with the exception of some brief arctic intrusions across central and eastern Canada, the weather has been exceptionally mild right across North America this fall.

So what does the future hold for Montreal and the St. Lawrence Valley? I'm afraid if you are a snow lover, the news is not good, you can stop reading now. At this time the storm tracks suggest more rain than snow. When winter storms pass to our north and west, warm air surges into the region changing any precipitation to a mix or plain rain. If a system passes to our south and east, we generally remain cold, with mainly snow.

Thursday's low pressure system is passing well to our north, allowing temperatures to rise well-above the freezing point today, up to 6C (43F). A strong cold front will arrive this evening, allowing temperatures to plummet back below freezing point, with any rain changing back to snow before tapering off.

The same scenario will play out once again on Sunday and Monday, as a strong winter storm moves across the Great Lakes and into central Quebec. Expect another round of snow late Sunday, changing to rain along with surging temperatures from as cold as -10C (14F) up to 8C (48F) on Monday and then back below freezing by Tuesday morning.

You get the picture. This trend is expected to persist through at least the middle of the month. I am not a fan of this type of winter weather at all as it puts a strain of everything from our bodies to our homes and cars. Sadly at this time, I see no major changes in our future, with no prolonged period of cold weather expected through the middle of December.