Spring snowfall for Montreal?

A full solar eclipse, the first since 1932 in Montreal, will take place on Monday, April 8 at 3:27PM. At this time, partly cloudy skies are forecast, but it is more than a week away. Let's hope that forecast holds. You will need to protect your eyes with special eclipse glasses. Totality will last 1 minute 27 seconds in Montreal. Only a partial eclipse is expected in Laval, Ottawa and points north and east. The South Shore and Eastern Townships will have the longest time in total darkness across southern Quebec, approaching 3 minutes at several locations. (NASA Photo)

Northwest winds have made it feel a little cool this Easter Sunday as it did both Friday and Saturday, when gusts reached as high as 60km/h in Montreal. High temperatures have been close to the normal high of 7C (45F), cooling to near the freezing point for overnight lows. Both mornings started off cloudy, but clearing took place, with abundant sunshine returning by the afternoon hours. The aforementioned winds did make it feel considerably cooler than the actual air temperature.

The upcoming week will start off partly sunny, with high pressure drifting slowly northeast of the region. Temperatures will remain near seasonable values, 10C (50F) for a high Monday and Tuesday, with a low near 0C (32F). That is the good news.

POTENTIAL SNOWFALL

The bad news is we may have some spring snow in our future. A very complex weather scenario will develop mid-week and persist into Friday as low pressure in the upper atmosphere develops over the Great Lakes, with a secondary storm at the surface forming along the Atlantic seaboard and moving into coastal New England. There are many variables at play here, including if the two systems merged, the final track of both storms, and how much cold air there will be available here in the St. Lawrence Valley. The temperatures will just be marginally cold enough for snow, mostly during the overnight hours.

At this time we are looking at a rain snow mix across the region, with heavy amounts of wet snow possible across the higher elevations of the Eastern Townships, northern New York and Vermont. Across the lower elevations, including here in Montreal, a slushy few centimetres is quite possible Wednesday night into Thursday morning and again during the overnight period into Friday. There are still many questions to be answered and this forecast is not by any means set. 

In any event, expect the weather later this week to be cooler than normal, quite windy, and with some form of precipitation. Stay tuned!

SOLAR ECLIPSE

The great solar eclipse takes place on Monday, April 8, covering thousands of kilometres from Mexico to Atlantic Canada. The celestial event will be the first total solar eclipse here in Montreal since 1932. Totality will occur at 3:27 PM in Montreal, lasting approximately one and half minutes. There are events planned across the region, visit espacepourlavie.ca/en/planetarium for full information.

Clear weather on April 8 is critical for getting the full eclipse experience. Unfortunately April is often a very cloudy month in Montréal. The good news, at least as I write this post, is that all the computer models are settling in to an 11 to 30 percent chance of cloudy skies at the time of the eclipse. Let's hope that prediction holds, I will take those odds.

I will post much more information on the eclipse weather this week.