Snow followed by a much needed thaw for Montreal

Thunderstorms by late Thursday and Friday could stretch from Ontario to the Gulf Coast just days after heavy snow. The winter of 2013-2014 certainly has been anything but boring.

It is a windy and chilly morning in Montreal as low pressure and an associated warm front move south of the city. Gusty winds have developed along with some snow. I expect around 2-5cm for Montreal in the next few hours. There will also be some blowing snow as northeast winds gust to 40km/h. Before the cloud cover moved in last evening we managed another frigid night with the temperature hitting -20C just after midnight here on L'Ile Perrot. From that point it has slowly risen and that trend will continue today. Look for a high temperature near -3C today and up above freezing to plus 1 or 2C Wednesday. More flurries and perhaps some freezing drizzle overnight into Wednesday as the warm front lifts north of the city. By Friday we will be in the mild air with showers and temperatures up to 4C. The weekend at this time looks cooler as a potent cold front sweeps the region late in the day Friday. That front is expected to produce a round of thunderstorms believe it or not from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes. Perhaps we may hear a rumble of thunder in Montreal as well in what has been an odd winter. I will have more details on that later.