Potent winter storm targets Quebec with 20-35 cm of snow, dangerous travel
An intensifying low-pressure system from Texas will track towards and push across Central Canada Wednesday and Thursday.
Similar to Ontario, Quebec is expected to see a winter storm conditions from the low, with heavy snow and strong wind gusts as the main impacts. A swath of 20-35 cm of snow is expected, and with the blustery wind gusts, dangerous whiteout conditions are expected on Thursday morning.
RELATED: 20-40 cm of snow set to hit Ontario with double storms this week
Prepare for quickly changing and deteriorating travel conditions, along with possible closures and cancellations, as well as power outages.
"Visibility may be suddenly reduced at times in heavy snow. Poor weather conditions may contribute to transportation delays," warned Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) in the winter storm warning issued for the Montreal area. "There may be a significant impact on rush-hour traffic in urban areas."
Stay up-to-date with the latest weather alerts in your area, and be sure to always check highway conditions before heading out.
A Texas low will develop early Wednesday and then gradually strengthen as it moves up the Mississippi Valley as the day progresses, eventually tracking into Quebec Wednesday overnight through Thursday.
Snow will begin after the Wednesday evening commute in western Quebec, namely for Gatineau and then Montreal near midnight on Thursday.
Thursday morning travel will be extremely snowy with dangerous whiteout conditions. With wind gusts of 40-60 km/h, expect extremely snowy conditions with whiteout conditions. Travel will be quite difficult during that time.
Snow is expected to taper off by Thursday evening.
There could be some light mixing for parts of Montreal and south once the snow tapers.
However, wind gusts of 50-70 km/h are expected to persist, so tricky road conditions will still be likely for travellers.
Heavy snow is expected for southern Quebec, with a swath of 20-30 cm of snow possible for Montreal, and 25-35 cm for Gatineau through the Laurentians.
There is high confidence that hazardous travel conditions are likely Wednesday evening into Thursday morning.
The Thursday evening commute will improve, but still won’t be great at all as blowing snow will reduce visibility throughout southern Quebec.
Drivers are urged to consider postponing non-essential travel until conditions improve.
Fair weather is expected on Friday, but another winter storm is expected to impact the region on the weekend, with a couple of waves of low pressure are expected. A few cm of snow is expected on Saturday from the first wave, but a second low will rapidly strengthen as it tracks near the U.S. East Coast with widespread snow for Sunday.
Fair and frigid conditions early next week with high temperatures in the negative teens. However, we will have a risk for another significant system or two later in the week. Colder-than-normal temperatures are expected to dominate through the end of February and into March.
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Stay with The Weather Network for the latest on your forecast across Quebec.
