The weather conditions on Saturday and Sunday will be less bad than those on Friday. But with the drop in temperature combined with strong winds against the backdrop of snow showers, motorists should be prepared for winter road conditions.
“Some roads could still be icy and visibility could be reduced in places, so adapt your driving and allow more time to get from point A to point B,” advised Jean-Philippe Bégin, meteorologist at Environment Canada, in an interview. phone Friday.
These conditions are courtesy of the sudden cooling coupled with strong winds that hit the snowy skies over southern Quebec on Friday afternoon.
When temperatures drop below zero while it’s snowing, you get icy roads and sidewalks on a massive scale.
Jean-Philippe Bégin, meteorologist at Environment Canada
Gusts of 60 to 70 kilometers per hour from the southwest are expected in practically all of Quebec this Saturday. The violent winds which swept the province at the start of the day on Friday, reaching 100 to 110 km/h in the vicinity of Quebec, and 80 to 90 km/h in the Saguenay, came rather from the east.
White Christmas
The snow will continue to fall during the weekend, but “we should not expect a storm that continues and with which we accumulate non-stop”, specified the meteorologist.
Instead, snow showers are expected, some of which could “be a little heavier”, but not long lasting.
“These are winter conditions with snowflakes, so it could reduce visibility, especially if the snow is blowing up,” explained Jean-Philippe Bégin.
These conditions will decrease a little in intensity as the hours go by, but will continue throughout the Christmas weekend.
“Sunday is even less worse than Saturday, but it’s still windy,” warned Mr. Bégin.
On December 25, we must still expect gusts of 40 to 50 km/h, and snow showers which could reduce visibility in places.
It’s slowly improving. Go slower and you’ll get there.
Jean-Philippe Bégin, meteorologist at Environment Canada
The Montreal region had received nearly 10 centimeters of snow by mid-afternoon on Friday, and another 5 to 10 centimeters were still expected.
Coastal flood risks
The arrival of violent winds during periods of high tides could cause waves to break along the coast of certain localities, warns Environment Canada.
“The astronomical tide is already high, it doesn’t take much for it to overflow,” explained Mr. Bégin.
These overflows are more likely to occur on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River than on its south shore, in an area extending “from Quebec to the east, including the Saguenay”. And in this period when the St. Lawrence River and Gulf are ice-free, these conditions could produce coastal flooding and erosion.
The Environment Canada site posted “storm surge” warnings for more than 15 areas of the province on Friday.