First snow of the season falling across the Montreal region

The morning commute has been challenging in the greater Montreal region, as the first snow of the season falls. Expect 5-10cm of west snow today, accompanied by gusty northeast winds. More snow is forecast south and east of the city, up to 25cm locally. (Valley Weather Photo)

Snow has been falling steadily over southern Quebec for the last few hours, with 3cm on the ground here on Ile Perrot as of 9am. Low pressure is lifting across Lake Ontario while weakening, with a second storm system developing along the east coast. That storm will move northeast along the New England coast today into Thursday. The result will be around 10cm of wet snow for Montreal, more east of the city in the Townships and Quebec City region. 

Roads have quickly become snow covered Wednesday morning in Montreal, along with reduced visibility. There have been a rash of accidents across the region, including a six vehicle pile-up on Highway 50 near Grenville, closing that stretch of road in both directions. We are marginally cold for snow, sitting at 0.2C here on Ile Perrot. Temperatures will remain near the freezing point over the next 24 hours or so. Gusty northeast winds between 20-40km/h are making it feel rather raw outdoors today. Total accumulations will be in the 5-10cm range across eastern Ontario and southwest Quebec, with 10-20cm south and east of the city.

The heaviest snow moved into the Montreal metro region just in time for the morning commute. The snow is expected to continue through the afternoon hours. (Valley Weather Photo)

The snow should taper off this evening, but expect flurries to persist into Thursday, as we have a very cold, damp flow of air off the Great Lakes. That flow will produce epic lake effect snow in western New York and parts of Ontario. If you have travel plans along Highway 401 or Interstate 81, keep this in mind and plan ahead.