Bitter cold start to the week in Montreal 

Montrealers are waking up to a brutally cold start to the week, with sunshine doing little to offset temperatures hovering near minus-12 Celsius today. Early-day wind chills nearing minus-22 C are making the morning commute feel especially harsh, though winds are expected to ease slightly by noon.

The cold trend continues tonight with a steady minus-13 C and a wind chill of minus-20 C early in the evening. Conditions moderate slightly into Tuesday, but only by winter standards, temperatures rise to minus-7 C, with an early wind chill of minus-18 C before cloud cover increases.

“Weather should warm up to minus-7 C tomorrow,” said Serge Besner, meteorologist for Environment Canada. “Tuesday night into Wednesday snow will come, no amounts right now confirmed but maybe about 10cm or more.”

Snow will settle in mid-week, beginning Tuesday night with a 60 per cent chance of flurries and continuing through Wednesday and Thursday, when daytime highs hover between minus-5 C and minus-2 C. More flurries are expected Thursday night as temperatures dip to minus-9 C.

“By the weekend temperates should be in the minus-10s, if skies are clear enough it might be a little colder,” said Besner.

A brief break arrives Friday with a mix of sun and cloud and a high of minus-4 C, though more flurries are possible by nightfall. The weekend looks unsettled, with Saturday bringing another 60 per cent chance of flurries and a high of minus-6 C before clearing slightly overnight. Sunday ends the stretch with a mix of sun and cloud and a high of minus-9 C.

“The weather has been a pretty good start for December,” said Besner. “These temperatures have happened in the past, we aren’t reaching any records or alarming temperatures.”