'Cover up': Hazardous cold maintains hold on Quebec with alerts in place
After a mild winter so far, extreme cold continues to impact Quebec. Temperatures will plunge into the low -30s, with Montreal experiencing its coldest temperatures in nearly two years.
The influence of the polar vortex will be felt across Eastern Canada this week as temperatures take a significant nosedive, prompting extreme cold warnings to be issued for a good portion of the region, including Quebec.
The current season and the 2023-24 winter have been relatively mild in terms of extreme cold and heavy snow. But the temperatures are about the plummet even further.
DON’T MISS: Mild so far, but turning frigid: Canada’s mid-winter report card
The Arctic air mass has moved into Quebec, resulting in extreme cold warnings.
Dress warmly and cover up. Dress in layers that you can remove if you get too warm. The outer layer should be wind resistant. Frostbite can develop within minutes on exposed skin, especially with wind chill.
This week:
Cold spell continues for much of Quebec through Wednesday morning.
Tuesday morning brought Montreal, Que., bitterly cold temperatures of -14 C to -15 C.
Val d’Or and communities along the Ontario-Quebec border in the north experienced some of the coldest temperatures compared to the rest of the province.
For example, on Tuesday morning, the community recorded a -36.8 C reading, with wind chill values at -43. Wednesday morning will offer a little bit of a reprieve, but still will be feeling the extreme cold
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Still, another opportunity for Montreal to reach -20 C will occur with the Tuesday overnight forecast at -21 C and the Wednesday morning temperature at -20 C. All cities in Quebec are looking to seeing temperatures below -20 C by Wednesday morning.
Dress warmly and cover up. Dress in layers that you can remove if you get too warm. The outer layer should be wind resistant. Frostbite can develop within minutes on exposed skin, especially with wind chill.
MUST SEE: Polar vortex to plunge town’s wind chills to -50 for several days
Temperatures won’t rise into negative single digits again until Thursday, so the deep freeze will persist for several days.
Temperatures will remain below the freezing mark for the foreseeable forecast, with another cooldown expected late next week.
During the first week of February, much milder air will surge north into the eastern U.S., and attempt to push north of the U.S. border from the Great Lakes to Atlantic Canada.
That will bring a milder pattern to this region, but it is too early to know whether this will actually bring an extended period of early spring-like weather or if this region will just become the battleground between the contrasting air masses––resulting in messy winter storms with an active storm track across the region.
The exact location of the battleground between the two contrasting air masses will be so critical to what the first few weeks of February look like near and south of the St. Lawrence River.
Stay with The Weather Network for all the latest on conditions across Quebec.
