Cold snap for 48 hours followed by significant warming trend

An icy sunrise over the St. Lawrence River near Ile Perrot. Extreme cold warnings are in effect for Friday and Saturday across most of Quebec.

Montreal is in the grips of some of the coldest air on the planet Friday morning, after a powerful cold front swept across southern Quebec late Thursday evening. The front was accompanied by snow squalls producing heavy snow and 70km/h wind gusts. Visibility dropped to near-zero across the Island of Montreal between 9 and 10pm. There were even reports of thunder and lightning on the South Shore.

All that is gone this morning, and we are left with intense cold. The temperature has dropped from -11C at midnight to -25C at 8am. Gusty northwest winds across the province are generating windchills in the -40C to -50C range. The cold air will continue to deepen today in Montreal, with temperatures actually falling towards -26C this afternoon and -30C overnight.

A fast moving arctic front produced wicked snow squalls Thursday evening. This was the scene in Terrasse-Vaudreuil off the southwestern tip of the island. Brief heavy snow, gusty winds and even lightning occurred with the frontal passage. (Video Image by Tammy Arbour) 

Hydro-Quebec is asking residents to conserve energy over the next 36 hours as the heart of the cold airmass resides over the province. The utility is expecting record demand today across the province.  The good news is that the cold outbreak will be short lived. High pressure will slide east late Saturday, allowing a warm front to lift into southern Quebec. After a cold Saturday with a high of -17C (2F), temperatures will warm all the way up to 2C (36F) by late Sunday. There will be some light snow mixed with, believe it or not, rain on Sunday.

The cold is affecting a large region. Widespread weather warnings are in place from Manitoba to Atlantic Canada and on the US side of the border from the Great Lakes to the Northeast and New England. According to Mount Washington Observatory Meteorologists, the icy cold will challenge the coldest temperature every recorded on the peak in New Hampshire of -47F. The overnight low into Saturday morning may be as cold as -50F with windchill values close to -100F. Mount Washington is known as one of the windiest locations on earth, and wind speeds are forecast as high as 140mph (225km/h) with this arctic outbreak.