A significant thaw announced from Wednesday could jeopardize winter activities, but will be welcome among the Hydro-Quebec teams responsible for restoring power after the intense winter storm that hit the province just before Christmas.
As of Wednesday, the mercury will rise well above the freezing point in almost all urban centers in Quebec, night and day.
This thaw should last at least four days, until New Year’s Eve.
In its forecast sent Monday morning, Environment Canada specifies that between Wednesday and Saturday, daytime temperatures will increase from 0 to 9 ℃ in Montreal and that they will rise to 7 ℃ at night.
Similar conditions will prevail elsewhere. The mercury will rise to 10 ℃ in Sherbrooke, 7 ℃ in Quebec, 6 ℃ in Gatineau, Saguenay, Rimouski and in Charlevoix and 4 ℃ in Gaspé.
Environment Canada also predicts that Wednesday through Sunday will be mostly rainy.
Not unusual, but..
While a warm spell isn’t unusual in late December or early January, it’s likely to be distinguished by lasting temperatures well above freezing at night, the meteorologist said. Environment Canada Julie Deshaies.
“Especially since daytime maximum averages are -5℃ and -13℃ at night, while temperatures there will stay above freezing even overnight,” she said.
Consequently, the snow that has fallen in large quantities in recent days is likely to become waterlogged, in addition to the expected rain, thus putting the structures on which it has accumulated at risk of collapse.
“In some places, we had 60-70 cm of snow. We will have to pay attention to the structures. There could also be accumulations of water if, in the city, the sumps have not been cleared. There could be some repercussions on certain waterways, although that remains to be seen,” says Julie Deshaies.
Welcome to Hydro-Quebec
At Hydro-Québec, the news of this thaw was well received as its teams are still hard at work in the field trying to reconnect customers who are still without electricity to the grid.
“It should help the teams on the ground to recover more quickly, especially if we have to deploy the helicopters. Today, the visibility was perfect, a clear sky, so that too, that helps a lot,” said the senior director of operations and maintenance of Hydro-Québec for the Centre-du-Québec, Julie Sbeghen, in virtual press conference on Monday.
Loading snow at Montreal
Until then, a snow loading operation has been launched from Monday evening or this Tuesday morning in several Montreal boroughs. This was announced by the City of Montreal, in a press release Monday, after a dozen centimeters of snow fell on its territory since last Friday.
The boroughs concerned are as follows:
- Anjou
- The Plateau-Mont-Royal
- Montreal North
- Outremont
- Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles
- Saint Laurent
- Saint-Leonard
- Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension
- Ahuntsic-Cartierville
- Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve
- Pierrefonds-Roxboro
- Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie
“Since the quantities of snow vary greatly depending on the sector and as provided for in the City of Montreal’s snow removal policy, the boroughs can carry out, when required, loading operations on their territory”, it is specified.
With The Canadian Press