Surge of warm air expected in Montreal to end 2022

Roads across southwestern Quebec were terrible during Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, with strong winds creating slick travel and reduced visibility. Several roads were closed across the region. (Service de sécurité de Sainte-Barbe) 

After the fierce storm that impacted so many through Christmas, we are in for a very warm end to 2022. In what has become so common in Montreal winters of late, temperatures will swing back above freezing for an extended period beginning Thursday. Temperatures through at least January 6 are expected to be well-above normal and above freezing. We may see daytime highs as warm as 10C (50F) during the thaw and even overnight lows remaining above freezing. The warm air will affect a large portion of Quebec and Ontario. This will allow all the ice and snow of the last week to melt away. There is rain forecast as well for New Years Eve and day, some flooding is likely. Authorities are reminding everyone to stay off and away from any body of water in southern Quebec. The ice will become extremely unstable, along with an increase in water flow during the upcoming thaw.

It certainly was a very wintry Christmas week across Quebec and Ontario, after an historic snowstorm moved slowly across the region. Montreal was on the "gentler" side of the storm, with plenty of rain preceded and followed by heavy snow, wind and cold. In the city, around 25cm of fresh snow has fallen over the last week. This brings the seasonal total to 72cm (28.3 inches). Now compare that to hard-hit Buffalo, New York, that has measured over 100 inches (254cm) of snow this winter to date. Much more snow fell north of Montreal, with some locations measuring over 50cm.

The intense winter storm cut power to nearly 700,000 Hydro-Québec customers over the busy holiday period. Nearly 18,000 still remain without heat and light Wednesday morning. Many of the outages, like the one shown above, impact only a few clients and have been difficult to reach for the utility. (Hydro-Québec Photo) 

In Buffalo, a state of emergency remains in place as authorities clear up the abandoned cars, open roads and sadly count the dead. The death toll in Erie and Niagara Counties in Western New York stands at 35, 27 in Buffalo alone. This surpasses the terrible Blizzard of 1977 that resulted in 29 fatalities across the region. At least one death was reported in Ontario.

Back to Quebec, the power remains out to over 18,000 Hydro-Quebec customers Wednesday morning. Some have been in the dark and cold since late Friday. The utility is down to the difficult portion of the recovery now, with smaller outages affecting only few customers at a time. Thousands of line workers have been on the job 24-7 since the storm began.

Powerful winds gusted between 90-130km/h in the province, with 16 consecutive hours of blowing snow recorded at Trudeau Airport. Six more hours of visibility under 1km were reported at the airport in Dorval on Christmas Eve. Conditions were much worse off-island. The blizzard conditions impacted a large area of Ontario and Quebec, with hundreds of kilometers of highways closed during the busy travel period across both provinces.

The storm also produced record high storm surges along several of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River from Quebec City towards the lower north shore. This included 7.15 metres in Old Quebec City. The tidal surge produced significant flooding and damage in many locations.

The wind also caused significant damage to trees, power lines and even some structures.

The good news is that mild weather is expected across the entire area impacted by the storm, allowing for recovery efforts to continue, likely at a faster pace.