The mild weather of the weekend disrupted the progress of winter events throughout the province, such as the Canadian Ski Marathon in Outaouais or the Quebec Carnival.
“Due to the high temperature throughout the Carnival, and for the safety of our Carnival participants, our experts recommend that we close access to the Palais de Bonhomme for this last day of the Carnival,” said the organizers of the Carnival on Sunday morning. 70e edition of this celebration. The ice castle can therefore only be observed from the outside.
In Quebec, as elsewhere in the province, the mild weather that arrived last Friday continued on Saturday, detailed Dominic Martel, meteorologist at Environment Canada. Several cities broke records on February 10, including Montreal, where the mercury reached 9.5 degrees, and Gatineau, 6.1 degrees.
In Outaouais, the Canadian Ski Marathon (MCS) which takes place mainly in Montebello and Papineauville had to make changes to its route before kicking off. The high temperatures of the previous days had damaged the tracks. “The MCS team has put in place a contingency plan which will only minimally affect your skiing experience on Saturday and Sunday,” however, those responsible clarified in a message sent Friday evening to the 1,137 participants.
The event, which is in its 58the publishing in the region, has had to face many challenges over the years, underlines Sylvain Parent, volunteer on the MCS Board of Directors. “The mild temperatures of the last few weeks and this weekend, on the other hand, are rarely seen,” he admits. Additional modifications to the course had to be made on Sunday morning.
Further details will follow.