(Montreal) Snowpack on the ground is below seasonal norms on this final day of 2023, Environment Canada says.
Posted at 3:32 p.m.
The federal organization points out in a table published on X that there is simply no snow in Montreal and Quebec, while the average snow on the ground in these cities is ten centimeters and 34 centimeters, respectively.
On December 31, Sept-Îles covered 5 cm of snow, but according to seasonal norms it should be 31 cm. Environment Canada reports that snowpack is also well below seasonal norms in Gaspé and Bagotville in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean.
However, these data are not a record, says Gregory Yang, meteorologist at Environment Canada.
“For Montreal, for example, we have had a green Christmas six times in the last ten years,” he explains in an interview. In Quebec it is a little rarer. The last time we didn’t have snow on the ground on December 25th was in 2015.”
The further north a city is in the province, the less likely it is to have a green Christmas, he says.
The averages published by Environment Canada were calculated using data collected between 1981 and 2010, says Mr. Yang. Next year, the organization will receive new data collected between 1991 and 2010 that will allow us to see whether climate change has affected average snow cover seasons in recent years.
For now, Yang suspects that the amount of snow from the new data will be below the previous average.
Even if it cannot yet be said that climate change will lead to less snow in the coming winters, the meteorologist believes that even more unpredictable winters can be expected.
“Given global warming, this doesn't necessarily mean it will get hotter in the future, just that there could be more extremes,” explains Mr Tang.