Again a wave of cold coming

Photo Agence QMI, Joêl Lemay

Gilles Brien

Wednesday, 31 January 2018 07:05

UPDATE
Wednesday, 31 January 2018 07:08

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The softening temperatures this week will be followed by a dip marked with the mercury Saturday when a mass of polar air will invade again the province. But by then, the rapid progression to the Quebec Wednesday in a low-pressure system from Alberta will snow until Thursday, and a slight rise in temperatures.

The return of the very cold weather during the next weekend, or from 5 to 10 degrees below the normal, is likely to continue until mid-February. Fortunately, the conditions will still be less frigid and painful, than those which prevailed during the cold wave of history that Quebec has suffered from 27 December to 7 January, with deviations up to 20 degrees compared to the averages.

More snow in January

The trend that began in December with more snow than normal has continued into January. In the Montreal region, the amounts of snow fallen during the month of January (81 cm), well exceeded the average (50 cm). With the snow that fell in November and December, the total accumulated this winter has already reached 148 cm. When we compare this number to the annual average of 210 cm, this represents 70% of the snow total that falls each winter.

In Quebec also, where the average snow annual is 303 cm, the amounts of snow received since the beginning of the winter (156 cm) have crossed over half of the annual quantities. Same thing for the Gatineau-Ottawa region, where it fell over 143 cm up to now, according to Environment Canada, compared to an average of 223 cm.

If the snow and sleet continue to fall at this pace, helped by the unusually cold weather and heavy depressions from the Great Lakes, the winter could end up with record snow on the west of the province. This could be a problem in the spring.

As for the temperatures, if the trend continues over the next few weeks with an influx of persistent air of the arctic, the winter of 2017-2018 is well-positioned to be one of the coldest and earliest that Quebec has known in 25 years.