Friday, February 10, 2017

Snowy weekend for Montreal

The biggest winter storm of the season hit southern New York and New England on Thursday, causing widespread power outages and accidents. (Massachusetts State Police photo)
After a week of fluctuating temperatures, snow and ice, we will have a brief respite today. That break, however, will be a cold one, with temperatures at -16C (4F) this morning, and an excruciatingly cold northwest wind of 40km/h. Windchill readings are in the minus 20s. The sun will appear briefly today, but it will be cold, with daytime highs struggling to reach -12C (10F).

On Thursday, a strong winter storm passed well south of Montreal, dumping heavy snow across southern New England. Some regions reported as much as 40cm of snow, along with winds of 100km/h. Nearly 50,000 customers lost power, as the region's largest storm of the year moved into the Atlantic. Today the storm is racing off towards Newfoundland.

On Wednesday, icy roads were a factor for this school bus ending up in the ditch in La Presentation, Quebec, southeast of Montreal. There were 25 children on board. Thankfully no injuries were reported. Thick ice remains behind after a rapid freeze on Thursday. (Global News)
SNOWSTORM
Our attention will now turn towards a clipper-type low-pressure area expected to move from the Great Lakes into New York over the next 24 hours. Light snow will spread into Montreal overnight and taper off on Saturday. Accumulations will approach 5cm in our region. On Sunday, twin low pressure areas are forecast to develop and attempt to merge off the New England coast. The potential exists for snow to develop by later Sunday and continue into Monday. At this time, the forecast is for all snow, unlike previous systems. A good 10cm is possible in southern Quebec, but that amount may increase considerably depending on the strength and track of the developing storms. I will post more details this weekend. Temperatures will moderate with the cloud cover and snow, up to -8C (18F) Saturday, and -4C (25F) Sunday. The snow will continue into Monday in Montreal, promising a sloppy, slow commute.

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