Spring Outlook 2015: Long-range weather forecast for Quebec

Wednesday, March 4, 2015, 2:51 PM - Quebec will have to wait for spring to arrive. The unusually cold weather this winter will continue in the first half of the season and slow the arrival of mild weather, according to The Weather Network’s 2015 Spring Outlook for March, April and May.

"The snow covering the ground and the significant icing of the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence will keep the warmth away,” said Marie-Josée Grégoire, meteorologist for MetéoMedia, The Weather Network’s French-language service in Quebec.

"Because of the cold, precipitation may fall more as snow than rain early in the season,” she said. “The specter of a March snow storm is real.”

See these regional outlooks: National | British Columbia | Prairies | Ontario | Quebec | Atlantic Region

This is the temperature outlook for March.

Despite a slow start, there’s hope in the air. May should be hot enough to feel spring-like in time patios to open before summer officially arrives.

Precipitation levels should be near normal for most regions of Quebec, with the exception of the east. “When the cold weakens, it is quite possible that the Atlantic storm track moves to southern Quebec," MetéoMedia weather presenter Réjean Ouimet said.

This is the temperature outlook for March, April and May combined.

This is the precipitation outlook for March, April and May combined.

This is the outlook for Quebec.

CORRECTION: The label on an earlier version of the March map said "precipitation," although the map indicated temperature. It has been corrected.