Another wave of snow and cold forecast for Montreal

The snow on Friday is expected to hide the layers of ice coating most parking lots and driveways after 15mm of freezing rain and sleet fell on the Montreal region Wednesday night. 

Another winter storm, the third in less than a week is set to impact southern Quebec and Ontario on Friday with 5 to 15cm of fresh snow expected. Winter weather advisories are in effect for all of southern and eastern Ontario, with winter storm warnings in place across New England and New York. No warnings have been issued for Montreal at this time.

There is still a layer of ice on the ground in many places after Wednesday nights storm went through, which will makes things challenging with the new snow arriving. Wednesday's storm produced nearly 15mm of freezing rain and sleet, with very little warm air making it into Montreal. The temperature only nudged above the freezing point for a few hours early Thursday morning, before a strong cold front pushed across the region, with a peak wind gust of 88km/h at Trudeau Airport, and rapidly falling temperatures back below freezing. This resulted in standing water refreezing quickly.

This is setting the stage for a much colder weather system on Friday. Low pressure will deepen as it passes well south of Montreal, close to the New York City metropolitan region and into the Atlantic. Southern Quebec will be on the northern edge of the storm, with 5 to 10cm expected in the city and 10 to 15cm south towards the US border. The snow will begin early Friday morning and taper off late in the day. We are also expecting strong northeast winds of 30-50km/h to accompany the snow along with cold temperatures. The high is forecast at -11C (12F) for Montreal. The snow will be very fine and blow around quite easily. Expect poor travel conditions all day Friday.

Last Saturday's snow squall activity made driving dangerous across southern Quebec. More snow squall activity is expected this Sunday afternoon as an arctic cold front plows through the region. (ValleyWeather Photo)

Another round of snow squalls expected

Skies will clear out early Saturday morning, but any sunshine will be short-lived as another system arrives late in the day. Low pressure will pass near Montreal on Sunday with somewhat limited moisture, but drag a potent arctic front through the region during the afternoon hours. At this time it looks like a repeat of last Saturday, with dangerous snow squalls developing. They will be brief and isolated, but produce periods of strong winds, very heavy snow and poor visibility. Expect a general 2 to 5cm of addiotnal snowfall. Keep this in mind if you have any travel plans to end the weekend. Last weeks squalls produced quite a few serious accidents across southern Quebec and into Ontario and northern New England as well.