As expected, the winter storm that battered Quebec on Thursday and Friday, ending in heavy snowfall at the start of the weekend, will settle snow on the ground for good in most areas. The precipitation will now give way to clear skies.
In some regions, including Montreal, Environment Canada predicts cloudy skies on Saturday with “30% chance of snow showers early in the morning”, a system which will then turn into “alternating sun and clouds at midday”.
The sun will then be well and truly back: in most regions of Quebec that have received snow – that is to say almost all of them – the sky will gradually clear on Sunday and Monday. In the metropolis, bright sunshine is announced for three days, in particular for Sunday and Monday. The snow should not return until the turn of the next weekend.
But like winter, this snow has not said its last word. “Winter is likely to surprise us again with storms and broadsides of all kinds until the end. Everything suggests that the disturbances will follow one another at a good pace over the next few weeks in Quebec, ”explained Friday the meteorologist of Météo Média, Réjean Ouimet.
At the end of the day, Friday, between 20 and 25 cm of snow had fallen in Montreal, according to Environment Canada. From Quebec to Trois-Rivières, snow accumulations reached 20 cm in places. The last flakes fell during the evening. The snowfalls were also impressive in the Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie regions: between 15 and 35 cm, depending on the sector.
At times, sleet and freezing rain mixed with the snow. The wind was also in the game, so that many school service centers, concentrated in eastern Quebec, decided to close their doors for the day.
Stable on the road network
Saturday morning, the Sûreté du Québec reported no major accidents on the roads of the province, apart from a few road trips, including three heavy goods vehicles which obstructed traffic without major accidents. The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) also recorded service delays which were nevertheless gradually being sorted out at the end of the day on Friday.
However, travelers will still have to be patient. Several flights were in fact still delayed or even canceled on Saturday morning at Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau International Airport, especially those to Western Canada and the United States.
Finally, most of the out of order customers have been resupplied by Hydro-Québec in the past few hours. At the start of the day, however, there remained more than a thousand customers without power in Montreal, and more than 500 in Montérégie.
The City of Montreal is preparing to launch its second full snow load operation of the season. “At the latest, Sunday evening, the 19 boroughs will have launched their snow load. Some will start on Saturday, but most probably on Sunday, ”explained the administrative spokesperson for the City of Montreal, Philippe Sabourin, on Friday.
With Lea Carrier, The Press