Quebec faces ugly morning commute marred by heavy snow
After a rough evening commute across southern Ontario, the storm and its travel headaches will push into Quebec in time for the Thursday morning commute.
"Prepare for quickly changing and deteriorating travel conditions. Visibility may be suddenly reduced at times in heavy snow," says Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) in the snowfall warning. "There may be a significant impact on rush hour traffic in urban areas."
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Cold temperatures will ensure this remains an all-snow event for much of the region. However, snow may change to rain Thursday morning in the Eastern Townships, with a risk for freezing rain during that transition.
Widespread snowfall totals of 15-25 cm are in the forecast for communities along the St. Lawrence River, including Montreal and Quebec City, with these heavier totals stretching into the Eastern Townships.
Snowfall rates for Montreal will be highest through pre-dawn hours on Thursday, with 2-4 cm per hour possible for the city. The snow combined with gusty winds could make for near whiteout conditions at times.
The hazardous winter weather will gradually improve through the day on Thursday.
A clipper system tracking north of the province will bring a brief bout of warmer temperatures and snow showers overnight Friday into Saturday.
A very wintry week is expected for the final days of January. The region will fall between frigid weather to the west and milder weather to the south and east. However, a push of Arctic air late next week could overwhelm this pattern and shift the storm track well south of the border.
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Stay tuned to The Weather Network for the latest forecast updates for Quebec.
