Winter to make a return to Montreal this weekend

After a prolonged cold snap in January and a roller coaster February, roads are in brutal condition across the Montreal region. Massive potholes and sinkholes have damaged numerous cars and caused several accidents. Crews have been filling them, but new ones appear just as quickly. You can blame it on the fierce freeze and thaw cycle over the last few weeks, along with deep frost this year and steady precipitation over the last 10 days. Since March 1st, over 80mm of rain and snow have fallen at Trudeau Airport.

Perhaps the last shot of arctic air for the winter season is forecast to invade southern Quebec this Sunday. This will be quite a shock to the system after the springlike conditions over the last week. Before then we have a wet, chilly period of weather expected over the next 72 hours. Low pressure over the Great Lakes pushed a frontal boundary into the region overnight, accompanied by rain, ice pellets and pockets of freezing rain. I measured close to 25mm (1 inch) of precipitation on Île Perrot since just before midnight through 9am, with temperatures hovering just above the freezing point.

Thursday will be a breezy day, with scattered showers and a high near 7C (45F) for Montreal. A secondary area of low pressure will move along the east coast late Thursday pushing another wave of moisture into southern Quebec. Look for a mix of rain and snow across the St. Lawrence Valley into Friday morning, with an overnight low near 3C (38F). Both Friday and Saturday will be cloudy and cool, with scattered showers.

Arctic Blast

On Sunday, a strong arctic cold front will sweep across the region, accompanied by some snow, with 1 to 4cm possible across southern Quebec. Temperatures will drop dramatically into the minus teens both Sunday and Monday night. Strong northwest winds late Sunday and Monday, will result in windchill values as low as -20C. The overnight lows will be in the -10C (14F) to -15C (5F) range. Monday will feel brutally cold for late March, with strong winds and a high of only -6C (21F). Temperatures will moderate by mid-week.