Freezing rain warning for Montreal Sunday

A significant amount of freezing rain is forecast for parts of southern Quebec and eastern Ontario this weekend. Montreal is forecasting up to 10mm of ice accretion, while parts of central and eastern Ontario may see up to 25mm. Travel will be poor and power outages are possible.

Freezing rain warning in effect for Montreal.

A rather impactful spring storm is underway across extreme southwestern Quebec and portions of Ontario and adjacent New York and New England. A frontal boundary to our south has been the focus for areas of snow and freezing rain overnight. Across the Montreal region, several centimetres of snow have fallen, but the heaviest precipitation remains southwest of the city. With that said, roads are still snow covered and slippery this morning, especially southwest of the city on Highways 20/401 to Cornwall and Highway 40/416 to Ottawa. The Ottawa Airport was reporting 0.8km visibility in heavy snow at 4am. Gusty winds are forecast from the northeast 30-50km/h today.

Across portions of central and eastern Ontario, significant amounts of freezing rain fell overnight with power outages increasing in the region. Scattered thunderstorms with freezing rain were even observed. Over 25,000 residents are in the dark, and that number is increasing.

For Saturday, Montreal will remain on the cold northern side of the front, with light snow tapering off by midday. High temperatures will struggle to reach 0C (32F). There will be a break in the precipitation this afternoon, before the front begins to move northward tonight, A surge of unseasonably warm air will move over the cold air at the surface here in the St. Lawrence Valley, producing widespread freezing rain tonight and most of the day Sunday in Montreal. Up to 10mm of freezing rain is possible, resulting in slippery roads and sidewalks, as well as scattered power outages.

The front will eventually move north of Montreal, allowing much warm air to arrive, and changing any remaining precipitation to rain late Sunday into Monday. Highs on Monday will reach 14C (56F). There will be a strong cold front arriving late afternoon, with showers and even a rumble of thunder possible, followed by much colder weather for Tuesday.