Published on March 1, 2024 at 12:13 pm
Many cities have never seen a winter like this in Quebec. Explanations.
Great news
February was pretty mild everywhere in Quebec. A record was even broken in Val-d'Or: the warmest month ever recorded in this town with a positive anomaly of 6°C. In fact, the weather contributed significantly to a historic season in the last month of winter. In many cities, this is unheard of. There have been three warmest winters in the past 25 years, and in these cases, they bode well for the future.
“Almost everywhere in Quebec, the winter is a record,” says meteorologist Régène Ouimet. February contributed to the biggest anomaly in three months. The province remembers 2002, 2010 and 2016 as historically mild seasons. The following springs were warm, with surprises like cold spells in April 2016 or late snows in 2010 and 2002.
A major oversight
The winter of 2023-2024 has also forgotten the snow. In fact, the snowfall received during the quarter was scarce across Quebec. No region has normalized in this regard. Surprising fact: Montreal had a higher hitting percentage compared to the season average.
Registration in Montreal
Montreal has officially experienced its second mildest winter in history. In fact, the metropolis equaled 2002 with an average of -3.2°C over the entire weather period from December 1 to February 29. But in February the anomaly was more significant at 4.4 degrees Celsius above normal.
“January was colder than December with an increase in February,” explains Réjean Ouimet. Except the display is elevated on steroids with deviations of three degrees or more each month from normal. We can think about a winter in the future. »
Early spring
Now that we know the end of the 2023-2024 winter, what can we expect in the spring that begins on March 1 (weather season)? Given similar seasons in 2002, 2010 and 2016, the mild trend should continue in the coming months. This does not mean that there will be no cold or snow in March and April, but the existing atmospheric conditions do not seem to be dissipating. However, if the spring is stingy with precipitation, it is important to monitor the effects of a particularly dry winter.
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