As if driving in from the off-island western suburbs of Montreal was not hard enough already with the bridge troubles, Wednesday mornings cold temperatures created ice fog and black ice on both bridges. Traffic was slowed to a crawl for the entire rush hour. The low Wednesday morning in Montreal was the coldest of the winter to date at -23.1C (-9.6F). It was -29.1C (-20.4F) in Vaudreuil-Dorion. (Valley Weather Photo)
Extreme Cold Warning posted for metro Montreal.
Arguably the most famous Groundhog in the world, Punxsutawney Phil, has predicted six more weeks of winter. Time will tell, but one thing is certain, the next 48 hours will be extremely cold. The coldest airmass in several years is set to invade southern Quebec Thursday evening behind a powerful arctic front.
Extreme Cold Warnings are in effect for a wide area of southern and central Quebec, with windchill warnings posted across most of New York and all of New England. I expect weather warnings will be added shortly for eastern Ontario and the Ottawa Valley.
Most of Thursday will be fairly mild in Montreal, with scattered flurries. The cold front arrives late this afternoon across eastern Ontario and early this evening in Montreal. The front will be accompanied by a brief period of heavy snow and blowing snow, giving a quick 2 to 5cm at any one location. Strong winds will gust to 70km/h creating areas of blowing and drifting snow. Roads will quickly become snow covered and slippery.
The snow will end by midnight, followed by clearing skies and plummeting temperatures. The low tonight in Montreal will be -22C (-8F). Temperatures will continue to fall Friday, settling into the -25C to -28C (-13F to -18F) range for our area. Gusty northwest winds of 30-50km/h will persist all day Friday, creating dangerous windchill values of close to -40C. Temperatures that cold can freeze exposed skin within minutes. Postpone any unnecessary outdoor activities and be sure to dress in layers. Make certain your pets are indoors.
The cold will remain with us Friday night, with a low around -28C (-18F). Temperatures begin to moderate Saturday, along with increasing clouds and a high of -17C (2F). The warming trend continues into Sunday, with a high of -3C (27F) along with a few centimetres of snow.
Speaking of snow, January proved to be the second snowiest on record, just missing the 1999 record by 0.2cm. For the month, 94.8cm of snow fell at Trudeau Airport. Oddly enough, the 0.2cm we needed to tie the 1999 record fell before noon on February 1st, just a few hours too late.
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