Montreal is in for a messy weather cocktail that includes rain and winds up to 90 km/h
You may want to postpone those Friday night plans.
Environment Canada issued a special weather statement for Montreal this morning.
Buckle up, Montreal, and hold on to your hats! We're about to get hit with a complicated mix of weather conditions, with heavy rain and strong winds making for a thoroughly unpleasant start to the weekend.
A massive weather system stretching from south Texas all the way to northern Nunavik is bringing rain to most of southern Quebec on Friday, January 9. According to a MétéoMédia report, the system is so large that it's affecting regions across thousands of kilometres.
Heavy rain throughout the day
Montreal will see steady rain this afternoon with 15-20mm expected. Temperatures will sit around 5°C, though it'll feel closer to 0°C with winds gusting up to 44 km/h.
By evening, light rain will continue with temperatures holding at 5°C, but the winds will really pick up with gusts reaching 66 km/h.
Overnight, things should finally calm down a bit. Skies will turn partly cloudy and temperatures will drop to -1°C, though it'll feel more like -6°C. Winds will still be gusty at 63 km/h.
Strong wind warning
Environment Canada issued a special weather statement at 8:51 AM on Friday, January 9, warning that strong southwesterly winds reaching between 70 and 90 km/h are expected this evening.
The advisory urges residents to secure any loose objects before the winds arrive.
Freezing rain risk north of Montreal
While Montreal will just see regular rain, areas north of the city could face more dangerous conditions. The Laurentides and Lanaudière regions are at risk of freezing rain this morning, along with parts of Mauricie.
MétéoMédia meteorologist Alexandra Giroux explains that a layer of warm air is moving into the system at higher altitudes, causing precipitation to fall as liquid rain. But since the air near the ground is still cold in those northern regions, the rain freezes on contact with surfaces like roads, sidewalks and stairs.
Later this afternoon and evening, the freezing rain risk extends to Mauricie, northern Capitale-Nationale, Charlevoix and Saguenay.
"We're not talking about significant amounts of freezing rain, but it could be enough to make certain roads slippery as well as stairs and sidewalks hazardous," the forecast states.
More snow on the way
If you were hoping this would be the end of winter weather for a while, there's more coming. Saturday evening into Sunday morning could bring between 5-10cm of snow, with another 2-4cm possible Saturday evening.
