Freezing rain is expected over the next few hours in southern Quebec. Rush hour may be disrupted Thursday morning, warns Environment Canada.
The precipitation should begin in the evening and continue well into the night, says Simon Legault, meteorologist at Environment Canada.
5 to 10 millimeters of rain are expected in the south of the province by Thursday morning.
Early Wednesday afternoon, a freezing rain alert was issued for several areas, including Gatineau, Lachute – Saint-Jérôme, Lanaudière, Montreal, Richelieu Valley – Saint-Hyacinthe and Vaudreuil – Soulanges – Huntingdon.
“Surfaces, such as roads, streets, sidewalks and parking lots, will become icy, slippery and dangerous,” warns the federal agency.
The risks of massive power outages are however low, specifies Simon Legault, in particular thanks to the absence of strong winds. “That doesn’t mean that there wouldn’t be any at all, but we don’t expect a phenomenon like we saw last spring, when we received 30 to 35 millimeters of rain,” he explains.
A second episode of freezing rain is expected to begin early Friday morning. This will be less significant: between 5 and 7 millimeters are expected during the day. All the same, the precipitation will accumulate to that of the day before, warns the meteorologist.
The rain should also be accompanied by gusts of up to 45 km/h throughout the St. Lawrence Valley. Risks of blowing snow are expected in areas further north, including Quebec, where 10 to 15 cm of snow are expected on Friday. “We risk having problems on certain sections of road,” maintains Simon Legault.
After the bad weather, a “calm and mild” weekend awaits most Quebecers, who will be able to enjoy milder temperatures before the return of the cold next Monday.