Freezing rain, snow to foul up morning drive

Montrealers are in for a Groundhog Day hangover. Wednesday’s weather forecast calls for a mixed bag of precipitation — snow, ice pellets, freezing rain, rain — that will test the patience and prudence of rush-hour motorists.

Environment Canada issued a weather alert Tuesday to prepare the public for a messy drive on Wednesday morning. About 5-10 centimetres of snow is expected, followed by 2-4 millimetres of freezing rain.

“It could make for pretty poor driving conditions in the morning, especially for rush hour in the Montreal area,” said Marie-Ève Giguère, a meteorologist for Environment Canada.

“It’s not a huge storm,” she added. “Again, it’s not the quantity of snow, but it’s just that the heaviest bit will be at rush hour.

“The snow will start overnight, so when we wake up (Wednesday), even if you wake up early, there should be a few centimetres on the ground,” Giguère said. “The heaviest snow should fall at rush hour, between 6-9 a.m., and it could be mixed with ice pellets.”

As temperatures rise by midmorning, the precipitation could turn to freezing rain. Rain is expected to begin around midday. The good news is that the worst of the storm is expected to pass by late afternoon.

After a relatively mild January in Montreal, temperatures are expected to dip for the next couple of weeks, Giguère noted. But longterm forecasts are still calling for milder than normal temperatures in February and March. That has more to do with the El Niño weather system than El Groundhog.