{"id":644855,"date":"2026-03-10T05:31:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T05:31:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/644855\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T05:31:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T05:31:15","slug":"parts-of-quebec-bracing-for-potential-critical-freezing-rain-midweek-montreal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/644855\/","title":{"rendered":"Parts of Quebec bracing for potential \u2018critical freezing rain\u2019 midweek – Montreal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Environment Canada is warning that parts of southern Quebec could see \u201ccritical freezing rain\u201d later this week, saying the storm may paralyze some services and lead to transportation delays and cancellations.<\/p>\n

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The federal weather agency has issued a special weather statement for Greater Montreal, Mont\u00e9r\u00e9gie, Outaouais, Laurentians, Lanaudi\u00e8re, Mauricie, Centre-du-Qu\u00e9bec and the Quebec City region.<\/p>\n

It said the system, which will bring total accumulations of 20 to 30 millimetres of freezing rain, will move into the region beginning overnight Tuesday into Wednesday and continuing throughout the day.<\/p>\n

Meteorologist Giselle Dookhie says the duration of the freezing rain is what makes the system particularly concerning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason why we\u2019re describing it as potentially critical is the duration of the event,\u201d Dookhie said. \u201cWe\u2019re expecting up to 24 hours of seeing freezing rain over the area and with it we\u2019re expecting concerns the impacts throughout the day will start to increase.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Ice accumulation could weigh down trees and power lines.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThink of the weight that you\u2019re going to be seeing on the tree branches,\u201d she said. \u201cThis can cause some of the tree branches to break in the area and it can also cause some power outages as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just over a month ago, parts of Montreal\u2019s west end experienced a prolonged power outage after aging equipment belonging to Hydro\u2011Qu\u00e9bec broke down during frigid temperatures. Two people died.<\/p>\n

Dookhie told Global News that wind gusts expected during the storm could further weaken ice-covered trees, increasing the risk of branches breaking.<\/p>\n

If the forecast holds, driving conditions could worsen significantly through Wednesday, especially in the afternoon and evening. \u201cI would advise if you\u2019re able to work from home on Wednesday, that\u2019s probably a better idea,\u201d Dookhie said.<\/p>\n

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Environment Canada added that conditions will remain cold afterwards, which may complicate and delay the full return to normal services.<\/p>\n

\u201cSurfaces will become icy and increase the risk of falls and injuries. Prolonged power outages are likely. Ice accretion increases the risk of breaking tree branches. Consider delaying or cancelling any non-essential travel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Temperatures will hover around freezing Wednesday into Thursday morning, before shifting to -12C Thursday night. Flurries are expected afterwards.<\/p>\n

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A spokesperson for Transports Qu\u00e9bec urged drivers who must be on the road to slow down and keep a safe distance from other vehicles.<\/p>\n

There is also a chance some areas could see rain instead of freezing rain, which could bring the risk of localized flooding.<\/p>\n

The City of Montreal says it is finalizing its storm plan.<\/p>\n

Global News also asked Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec how it is preparing the power network for the potential storm, but the utility declined to comment, saying it is waiting for more precise forecasts from its own meteorologists before speaking publicly.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Environment Canada is warning that parts of southern Quebec could see \u201ccritical freezing rain\u201d later this week, saying…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":644856,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[2147,59872,274128,50,313],"class_list":["post-644855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-canada","tag-environment-canada","tag-montreal-weather","tag-news","tag-weather"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116203243984502303","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=644855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644855\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/644856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=644855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=644855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=644855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}