Active weather pattern for Montreal to begin March

Public works crews and private contractors have been rather busy over the last two weeks cleaning up snow from multiple storms in Montreal. This photo was taken in front of my childhood home on LaSalle Boulevard in Verdun. (Photo - Peter Storey)

February is in the history books, and spring is just around the corner. The month ended with 104mm of total precipitation, well above the normal of 63mm. In that amount was 54cm of snow, also above normal. That was a Trudeau Airport, many neighbouring regions reported even more snowfall, and as a result, the banks are sitting pretty high for early March.

Despite it being meteorological spring as of March 1st, winter weather remains in our future. This week, the Montreal region has already received between 10 and 15cm of new snow, and another storm is on the horizon.

We will end the week under a ridge of high pressure, with sunny skies but cold temperatures for early March. The high Thursday has already been reached and temperatures will remain steady around -10C (14F) or slowly fall. The normal high should be 0C (32F) and low -9C (16F). The forecast low tonight in Montreal is -17C (2F). Temperatures will slowly moderate on Saturday as clouds increase along a warm front. By Saturday evening, we can expect a light mix of snow and freezing rain, along with warming temperatures. Sunday will feature light rain and a very mild high of 10C (50F) for southern Quebec.

As the low pressure in question lifts north of the city Sunday afternoon, it will drag a cold front across the St. Lawrence Valley. Temperatures will fall back to the freezing point for Monday. At the same time another low pressure area will move from the central US towards New England and pass south of Montreal. This system will bring snow to the region, but the timing and amounts have yet to be determined.

Briefly looking ahead through the middle of March, we can expect below normal temperatures and above normal precipitation.