Arctic chill returns to Montreal

Thin ice remains on the St. Lawrence River off L'Ile Perrot. Low clouds, fog and a stubborn northeast wind on Wednesday, prevented Montreal from reaching record high temperatures. Such was not the case in locations just to our south and west, where temperatures were as warm as 16C. (ValleyWX Photo)

In a scenario similar to this past weekend, record highs are being followed by arctic air in southern Quebec. On Tuesday, Montreal reached 8.3C (48F), tying the record high for the date, set in 1954. Wednesday, a stubborn northeast wind separated Montreal from the warm air just to our south and west. While Trudeau Airport squeezed out a 7C (45F) high very late in the day, Granby, Sherbrooke, St. Anicet, Cornwall, Brockville, Massena, NY, and Burlington, Vermont all established new record highs for the date. Burlington reached 17C (63F), their third record high in less than a week. Brockville recorded 16C (61F); however, this morning they have plummeted to -9C (16F), all in less than 12 hours. Here on L'Ile Perrot, the temperature dropped from 5.4C (42F) at midnight to -7C (19F) at 7am.

A strong cold front surged across southern Quebec overnight, accompanied by a rapid temperature drop, winds in excess of 60km/h, and light snow. The light snow will persist for most of the day, accompanied by strong winds and biting windchill values. Accumulations will range from 1 to 3cm. The high temperature has been reached for the day, with the mercury falling to overnight lows of -15 to -20C in southern Quebec by Friday morning. The wind will remain gusty through Friday, producing windchill values in the minus 20s. Skies will clear out tonight, with sunshine returning through the weekend. The temperature will remain cold, with daytime highs around -8C (18F) and overnight lows down to -18C (0F). Above-normal temperatures are expected to return early next week.