A monthly heat record was broken on Saturday afternoon at the Environment Canada weather station at Montreal-Trudeau airport. Mercury reached 24.3°C, eclipsing the previous monthly record of 22.4°C recorded on November 10, 2020, by almost 2 degrees.
Posted at 5:19 p.m.
As for Montreal’s old daily record of 21.1 degrees, reached on November 5, 1938, it was simply shattered.
“The meteorological patterns at altitude favor the push of an abnormally warm air mass starting almost from Texas to arrive at our latitudes”, indicates meteorologist Dominic Martel of Environment Canada.
These abnormally hot temperatures have lasted, as we know, for several days. “In addition, the conditions on Saturday were very favorable in Montreal because the sky was clear. It really helped,” the meteorologist continued.
Elsewhere in Quebec, Trois-Rivières equaled a monthly record (22.2°C) while several other local stations recorded daily records. This is particularly the case in Quebec, Roberval and Bagotville, continued Mr. Martel.
These abnormally hot temperatures recorded at the beginning of November should not, moreover, delay the opening schedule of ski resorts in Quebec.
This was indicated by Yves Juneau, president and general manager of the Association des stations de ski du Québec (ASSQ) during a telephone interview with The PressSaturday afternoon.
If we were there around November 20, there would be more anxiety in the air. But when we look at the long term, we see that this beautiful period is about to end. So, we take advantage of it in our preparations for the season, whether it’s mowing the slopes or the last maintenance to be done on the ski lifts. This good weather facilitates the work in the field.
Yves Juneau, President and General Manager of the Association of Quebec Ski Resorts
If there’s a small negative effect, it’s with resort owners whose pre-sales of season tickets began in October-November, Juneau said. “People don’t mind skiing,” he says. But beware, the situation is not catastrophic, this slowdown being below the 5% mark.
On the contrary, says Mr. Juneau, the two years of pandemic that Quebec has just gone through have favored an increase in winter activities from which alpine ski resorts have benefited. “We had a 4.2% increase in ridership in 2020-2021 and another 3% increase in 2021-2022,” he said. Once again we expect a good year. »
The ASSQ has 74 member stations throughout Quebec. By tradition, says Yves Juneau, it is at the Mont-Saint-Sauveur station that the season begins. In Mont-Tremblant, we read on the website that the start of the season is set for November 24.
Towards a return to normal
Moreover, the period of practically summer temperatures of the last few days is about to end, indicates Dominic Martel.
On Sunday, Environment Canada predicts a maximum of 18°C in Montreal with showers. From Tuesday, we can expect temperatures to return to normal, i.e. 8°C. “In the longer term, we see cooling below normal starting November 12,” continues Mr. Martel.
According to Yves Juneau, ski resorts will then be able to start making snow mechanically during colder nights. “Previously, snow cannons could be used from -7°C,” he says. Today, with new technologies, we can start making snow at -3, -4 degrees. »