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 several regions, but sleet and rain could hit the eastern part of the province at the start of the week.
In Montreal, Environment Canada first 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 received snow, the sky will gradually clear on Sunday and Monday. In the metropolis, bright sunshine is notably announced for three days, in particular for Sunday and Monday. The snow should not return there before the turn of next weekend, but the temperatures will remain cold, around -13 degrees Celsius in the evening.
That said, winter has obviously not said its last word. “We are monitoring a system that will affect the East, which will bring a lot of sleet and freezing rain on Monday and Tuesday. We are talking about potentially very large quantities, so more than 10 millimeters most certainly, ”recalls in an interview the meteorologist at Environment Canada, Frédérick Boulay.
In the end, the sectors that received the most snow during the storm were the lower St. Lawrence and Témiscouata, where no less than 49 centimeters of precipitation fell. “In Chicoutimi, we’re talking about 31 centimeters and in Charlevoix, 36. The Rivière-du-Loup and Mont-Joli sectors also received up to 29 centimeters,” said Mr. Boulay.
At the end of the day, Friday, between 20 and 25 cm of snow had fallen in Montreal. From Quebec to Trois-Rivières, snow accumulations reached 20 cm. The last snowflakes fell in the evening. The snowfalls were also impressive in Gaspésie: 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.
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 altogether, on Saturday at Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau International Airport, especially those coming from or heading to Western Canada and the United States.
Finally, most of the downed customers had been resupplied by Hydro-Québec on Saturday morning. Outages were still underway in Montreal, Centre-du-Québec, Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Laval and Outaouais, in particular.
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