Published on January 28, 2024 at 4:27 p.m.
The thermometer will drop slightly in Quebec this week. It will span the entire province, but will be short-lived.
The big cold is over
If you live in the Montreal or Gatineau area and feel like the extremely cold weather this winter has been very mild, you're absolutely right. Neither in Montreal nor in Gatineau has the mercury temperature fallen below -20°, which is very rare. On average, this mark is reached starting December 26th on the mainland and December 25th in Gatineau. Such a sharp drop in temperature is not expected for at least ten days. It is therefore almost certain that this mark will not be reached by mid-February. The last time Montrealers didn't see -20° or lower on the thermometer for an entire winter was in the winter of 2001-2002.
At the gates of Quebec
However, temperatures early next week will not be suitable for spring clothing either. During the night from Monday to Tuesday the temperatures are expected to drop to -15°. During the day the temperature will struggle to rise above -10° on Tuesday and fall back to -15° the following night. The severe cold appears to be deliberately avoiding Quebec because if we look at the temperature map, the severe cold touches the province's borders to the east. Part of the maritime areas will be more cold, but the stronger part of these cold air masses will follow the Atlantic coast.
Quick tour
This little dive will be a performance of very limited duration. A certain softness returns on Wednesday. We're talking high temperatures near freezing for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in southern Quebec, slightly above the seasonal normal of around -5°.
In collaboration with Nicolas Lessard, meteorologist