Welcome to Meteorological Spring

This is what the remaining snow cover looks like in Saint Laurent to start March, in what has been a dismal season for snowfall. We should be nearing 180-200cm during an average winter, but sit at 122.8cm this year. Most of that has melted away in between systems. To date, Montreal has had only one major snowstorm, occurring on December 3, and two smaller ones in January.

March 1st is the start of meteorological spring, the celestial version will follow in a couple of weeks. Is winter over? Good question. Normally in Montreal the answer is no, some of the biggest storms historically in this city have occurred on the edges of the sinter season, including March and April. This year, it is going to be difficult ti generate any snowfall with the warm weather expected over the next few weeks.

With the exception of the last 24 hours, February was warm. The average high for the month was actually above freezing at 0.9C (33F), unheard of. Normally we should be at around -3.2C (26.2F). For the month, 16 of the 29 days had high temperatures above freezing.

In terms of snowfall, Montreal managed a paltry 16.6cm in February, scattered throughout the month. The normal is 41.2cm for the month. The seasonal total remains at 122.8cm, also well-below normal.

Looking ahead, we see more record warmth on the horizon. The weekend will be partly cloudy and very mild, with perhaps a few showers Saturday. Dry weather return for Monday through Tuesday, with daytime highs approaching record levels again. Montreal will see daytime highs between 10C (50F) and 16C (60F) to start the week. No storms are on the horizon.