After spring-like days, winter returned on Sunday, leaving 20 to 30 cm of snow in the greater Quebec region and in several other regions of the province.
• Read also: A good day to stay at home: a tumultuous weather cocktail hits Quebec on Sunday
The sticky snow brought joy to some children who rushed to make snowmen, but this rare snowfall since the start of the year also complicated the movements of motorists and damaged the electricity network.
It was a system coming from Colorado that brought this precipitation to the province. Snowfall beginning overnight from Saturday to Sunday continued throughout the day.
“It’s going to get better and better,” notes Antoine Petit, meteorologist for Environment and Climate Change Canada. “On Monday, the snow should stop or at least become intermittent in places. Tuesday, it will completely clear up.”
The youngest were able to play in the snow that fell in large quantities in the Quebec region.
Marcel Tremblay / QMI Agency
Heavy snow caused numerous power outages on Sunday. At the height of the storm, more than 33,500 Hydro-Québec customers no longer had power in the Capitale-Nationale region.
There were nearly 10,000 without electricity in Chaudière-Appalaches.
“The vegetation thus weighed down [par la neige] came into contact with the network in different places,” explained Hydro-Québec in an alert on its website.
The snowmobile was an emergency means of transportation on Boulevard Louis-XIV, in Beauport.
Photo Jean-Philippe Guilbault
During this time, there were numerous road trips due to the difficult conditions.
Sunday, late in the morning, the Ministry of Transport even announced the closure of Route 175, in both directions, at the section passing through the Laurentides wildlife reserve.
The return of skiing
This storm contrasts with the much milder weather of recent days, which foreshadowed warmer months.
“We agree that we had moved on with the early spring,” says Geneviève, snowshoeing at the Beauport Outdoor Center in Quebec. “But we had a blast, it was a great last hike.”
Skiers took to the slopes of the Beauport Outdoor Center.
Photo Jean-Philippe Guilbault
A few skiers were also there on the cross-country ski trails.
At Chute-Montmorency Park, tourists braved the wind and snow to venture up to the suspension bridge and admire the whitewashed landscape.
“We were surprised by the storm,” said Dominic, visiting from Chicago. “But it’s nice, it’s quiet and it reminds me of Christmas at home!”
The yoyo mercury of the last days “complicates the choice of clothes to wear”, he adds.
There were many tourists despite the storm at Chute-Montmorency Park, even if the snow sometimes obscured the view.
Photo Jean-Philippe Guilbault
“We can’t see the falls so well!” However, Éloïse, Solène and Romaine, students of French origin, are saddened. “We liked the snow at the beginning, but now we dream of sun.”
This sun will return in the coming days, assures Antoine Petit, of Environment Canada.
“We are going to get closer to zero and even five degrees,” specifies the meteorologist. “We have been spoiled in the last few weeks, it felt more like late March temperatures than late February. Here we are no longer in a seasonal normal.”