Friday begins under a generally clear sky with alternating sun and clouds, but the calm will be short-lived, while a storm similar to the one earlier this week is expected to hit the province from tonight.
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“After a brief lull, another storm could hit Quebec as early as Saturday. This storm, very similar to the one earlier this week, will bring large amounts of snow, strong winds and blowing snow to almost the entire province,” Environment Canada announced on its website Friday morning.
Therefore, snowflakes should begin in the south of the province overnight Friday into Saturday before reaching the center and east during the day on Saturday and the Lower North Shore from Saturday evening.
Western and central parts of the province, including the Drummondville, Mauricie and Mont-Laurier regions, are expected to see 25 centimeters of snow, strong winds and blowing snow.
In Saint-Jérôme, Lanaudière and the Laurentians, the federal agency is forecasting 25 to 40 centimeters of snow by Saturday evening.
For its part, the Gatineau region was expected to receive 6 to 10 inches (15 to 25 centimeters) of rain from Friday evening through Saturday morning, with a rainfall rate of 3 to 5 inches per hour, she said.
This time, the larger metropolitan region is unlikely to be spared, with Environment Canada reporting between 15 and 20 centimeters of snow for the same period. However, the precipitation could turn into freezing rain as early as Saturday afternoon.
With regard to the Capitale-Nationale and the Saguenay region – including Lac-Saint-Jean, Beauce and Charlevoix – there is still uncertainty about the amounts of snow to be received, but “the amounts of snow could be particularly large”. north bank of the river and along the Gulf of St. Lawrence,” the federal agency said.
A snowstorm warning is in effect until Friday evening in the Far North.