Big cold on the whole of the province, a number of roads remain closed in eastern Quebec

Photo Joel Lemay
The movements in the Bas-Saint-Laurent, Gaspésie, Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean and the North Shore were particularly affected.

QMI agency

Saturday, January 6, 2018 08:25

UPDATE
Saturday, January 6, 2018 08:25

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The cold wave has intensified since Friday, until Sunday. Environment Canada has issued warnings of “extreme cold” to several regions of Quebec.

The frigid temperatures of this end of the week could be up to 15 °C below normal for the season.

In Abitibi, the temperatures could reach -49 degrees with the wind chill.

For the regions of Quebec, Laurentides, Montréal and the Outaouais region, the temperatures will go up to -34 and -40 degrees with wind gusts of 50 to 60 km/h on the whole of the province.

Saturday in Quebec city a warning of extreme cold is in effect with snow intermittent and drifting snow, which will cease in mid-day.

Light snow is also expected in Montreal until mid-day.

The mass of arctic air moves from the west to the east.

Sunday, the cold will always be present throughout the province.

As of Monday, the mercury will heat up, with temperatures that rise up to -2 degrees.

Road conditions will continue to be difficult until the beginning of next week. Motorists are called to vigilance.

Several roads remain closed in eastern Quebec

The difficult weather conditions in eastern Quebec forced the ministry of Transportation of Quebec (MTQ) to close several roads. Several areas were still paralyzed Saturday morning.

The movements in the Bas-Saint-Laurent, Gaspésie, Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean and the North Shore were particularly affected by this bomb weather on Friday.

“These are extreme conditions. The wind and zero visibility in places there are kinds that we are obliged to maintain a number of roads closed,” said Denis Arsenault, spokesperson for the MTQ, on the waves of LCN, Friday.

Route 132 is to be avoided : it is closed between Rivière-du-Loup and Bic, in the direction West and East, between The Bic and Matane, but also between Matane and Sainte-Madeleine-de-la-Rivière-Madeline, in both directions.

On the side of the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, the traffic is always complicated, Saturday, with numerous closures on highways 169 and 170.

An emergency accommodation centre has even been opened in this sector in order to allow motorists to warm up and refuel.

Highway 20 between Cacouna and Notre-Dame-des-Neiges, the direction West and East, is closed.

Same thing between Rivière-du-Loup and Cacouna, in the direction of West and East and between The Bic and Mont-Joli in both directions.

The service of ferry between Matane, Baie-Comeau and Godbout have been suspended until Saturday morning.

The service bus is also affected in Quebec. Orléans Express has announced the cancellation of several departures scheduled Saturday morning. Several other depend on the road conditions ahead and are likely to be canceled.

In Montreal, no one sector appears to be problematic. However, the roads are snow covered and extremely slippery, motorists should be vigilant.

► For full details, consult the Québec 511.