After a glorious Sunday, Quebecers can expect a rollercoaster week in terms of weather, with rain, ice, wind and – we hope – a little sunshine.
“The real spring will not settle this week on our regions”, warns Julien Chartrand, meteorologist at Environment Canada.
As of Monday, a low pressure system from the Great Lakes should bring precipitation in the form of rain to Montreal and southern Quebec, and snow to the North Shore of the St. Lawrence River. Between two and four centimeters of snow are forecast for central and northern Quebec. Temperatures should remain within seasonal norms, a maximum of 7 degrees Celsius during the day in Montreal, and 4 degrees Celsius in Quebec.
The sun should rise again on Tuesday, and Mr. Chartrand encourages the public to take advantage of it.
Indeed, as of Wednesday, Quebec plunges back into another depression which, this time, could cause ice in several regions.
Environment Canada has issued a special bulletin for regions north of the St. Lawrence River, from the Outaouais to Quebec. “A warm front associated with a depression from the southwestern United States will approach the Great Lakes on Wednesday, details the federal authority on its website. Along the front, an area of freezing rain could leave significant quantities in the west of the province as well as in areas north of the St. Lawrence Valley. This band could extend towards the central and eastern regions on Wednesday evening and Thursday. »
Up to ten millimeters of freezing rain could thus fall in Quebec, indicates Mr. Chartrand. If Montreal seems to be able to avoid the ice for the moment, about twenty millimeters of rain are expected in the metropolis on Wednesday.
Showers mixed with higher temperatures and strong winds are also forecast for Thursday.
Friday should mark the return of good weather, with temperatures that are quite cool, “like today [Sunday]”, underlines Mr. Chartrand. For the moment, no other depression seems to be on the horizon for the Easter holiday, from April 7 to 10.
Will the spring sun soon come out to stay? Impossible to predict, for the moment, according to Mr. Chartrand.
The glitch: “The weather systems are following a trajectory that is currently passing over Quebec and they are bringing us precipitation and clouds as a result,” explains the meteorologist.
Sometimes, in the spring, it is the north of the country that is at the center of this “track of depressions”, he adds. At such times, the south of the province finds itself with dry and mild temperatures, which is not the case this year.