Spectacular October weather across southern Quebec

The weather was absolutely spectacular this weekend across southern Quebec. High temperatures surged into the low 20s with bright sunshine. Meanwhile winter arrived across western Canada. (ValleyWeather)

Our fall heatwave continues on Monday across southern Quebec and Ontario after a perfect weather weekend. The temperature rose into the low 20s across many regions of Quebec, with 10 daily record highs set on Sunday alone. While no records were broken here in Montreal, the high temperatures were still 10 to 15 degrees above normal for late October. The high Saturday reached 21.8C (70F) at Trudeau Airport, with 23C (73F) on Ile Perrot. Sunday was just a touch cooler at 20.8C (69F) as clouds began to stream in from the south.

Both days were perfect for any outdoor activity, and many took advantage of the ideal weather to rake leaves and winterize homes and cars. The winter weather will arrive eventually, but not this week that is for certain.

Low pressure moving along the eastern Seaboard Monday will push clouds and showers into portions of southeastern Quebec, with just a slight chance for a sprinkle or two in Montreal. Otherwise expect hazy sunshine, with another warm high near 20C (68F). Tuesday will be fair and warm as well, reaching 23C (73F), with Wednesday's high in Montreal forecast to reach a record-breaking 24C (76F). The current record for Wednesday stands at 21.5C (72F) set in 2012. Overnight lows will be mild as well, around 8C (43F). Expect some fog to form in the valley locations each morning. The normal high/low for late October is 10C (50F) and 1C (33F) respectively.

Above, traffic crawls along Highway 1 near Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan Sunday afternoon. Heavy wet snow blasted the southern part of that province on Sunday, resulting in numerous accidents, closed highways and widespread power outages. Many residents remain in the dark and cold early Monday morning, as SaskPower dispatches crews to hard hit locations south of the Trans Canada Highway towards the US border. The utility is not reporting on the number of customers without power, but many regions are listed on the outage page from Regina to Moose jaw and points south. (CBC News)

Western Snowstorm

While southern Quebec and Ontario were unseasonable warm this weekend a strong fall storm was skirting across northern Montana and North Dakota. The broad circulation of the storm pulled down very cold air on the backside of the system changing rain to heavy wet snow across southern Alberta and Saskatchewan. Between 15 and 23cm of snow fell in Calgary Saturday before the snow moved east. On Sunday heavy snow and strong winds created impossible travel conditions along the Trans Canada Highway in Saskatchewan. Numerous accidents and road closures were reported, along with scattered power outages. Visibility was often below 1 kilometre in snow and blowing snow between Swift Current and Regina, and points south. The RCMP and Moose Jaw Police were forced to close highways in and out of that city for the afternoon and evening hours after 10-20cm of snow fell, whipped by 50-70km/h winds.

In southern Manitoba, heavy rain and thunderstorms are occurring early Monday on the warm side of the storm. Temperatures are forecast to drop later today as the storm lifts into northwest Ontario. Strong winds continue across both provinces, gusting up to 90km/h at times.