Weather pattern trying to change in Montreal

While the weather has been fairly snow free here in Montreal, other parts of the country have not been so lucky. The storm above impacted southern Ontario in late November, missing southern Quebec. Another system Sunday, will give more snow to the same region, blanketing the 401 corridor from Cornwall to Kingston and missing Montreal. (Photo OPP)

It has certainly been a very mild fall in Montreal and across most of eastern Canada in 2022, with temperatures running well above the long-term normal. The same cannot be said for the western portion of the country, where snowstorms and intrusions of arctic air have been common. This is a typical La Nina setup that we have become all too familiar with over the last three winters here in Montreal. If you are not a fan of cold and snow, then you would love this scenario.

To date Montreal has received a paltry 0.2cm of snow in December. The normal for the month is 48.9cm. In November, 14.6cm fell at Trudeau Airport in Dorval, on the strength of one storm. The normal for November is 19cm. It was a wet month, just way too warm for snow, with 104mm of rain falling. No period of prolonged cold has been able to become established across our region.

Instead of snow and cold, Montreal has had a series of weather systems this fall that have produced windy, wet and mild weather. The wind has brought down trees and disrupted power over the last two weekends.

As we look ahead to the rest of December, we see a pattern change desperately trying to evolve. Temperatures remained well below freezing on Saturday, after another December stretch of above freezing temperatures. So far this month,  only two days have featured below freezing highs. Saturday was the coldest day of the month, with a high of -4C (25F) and gusty northeast winds , with a biting windchill in the minus teens.

On Sunday, yet another low pressure system will miss Montreal, giving us perhaps a few flurries, with 5 to10cm of snow falling just southwest of the city from the Ontario border towards Kingston and south into upstate New York. Keep this in mind if you are traveling south or west.

The pattern change I mentioned will develop this week, with cold air trying to move into our region and remain in place through the week. A very complicated weather pattern is setting up for the end of the work week and into next weekend. Several areas of low pressure are expected to develop over the western portion of the US, moving towards the Great Lakes and eastern seaboard. This could lead to an significant snowfall Saturday, but there are too many variables yet to work out. It could be another miss. One thig seems a little more certain, and that is temperatures will feel more like December like throughout the holiday period. At least that is what it looks like today. Stay tuned!