Did someone wish for snow? Another major winter storm will hit southern Quebec today
Another winter storm is poised to strike Montreal and southern Quebec overnight Friday.
It will bring between 15 and 20 centimetres of snow, expected to fall late Friday and only end late on Saturday, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC).
A snowfall warning is in effect and the weather agency says driving conditions could become difficult in some places.
Snow will be especially heavy in the corridor between Lake Huron and the lower North Shore in Quebec as well as parts of the Gaspé Peninsula.
A storm surge could take place in Saguenay and Quebec City, where snow will be accompanied by strong winds.
The snow may turn to freezing rain on Saturday afternoon as temperatures rise.
ECCC meteorologist Jean-Philippe Bégin says Montreal should see a lot less rain compared to the last storm, with the temperatures staying above freezing for a shorter period of time. However, he expects roads and sidewalks to remain slippery.
If it arrives as predicted, the storm will be the second major winter weather event to hit southern Quebec this week.
A cocktail of rain and snow buffeted the province overnight Tuesday, knocking out power and closing schools in the Laurentians, Quebec City and on the North Shore.
Impact on Montreal snow removal
The city of Montreal was carrying out snow-clearing and loading operations Friday afternoon, after the earlier storm dumped approximately 16 centimetres of snow on the city.
About 3,000 employees have been deployed for the loading operation, which will be paused later tonight, when precipitation is strongest, to focus on clearing snow, said city spokesperson Philippe Sabourin. He said the loading operation would resume once precipitation lessens.
In response to complaints about bike paths that are seemingly in better condition than sidewalks, Sabourin said the perception comes down to the city using different equipment.
"Usually, we're using a pickup truck on on bike pack, but there's no way we can use that on the sidewalk — it's too narrow," he said.
Another factor to keep in mind, he says, is that Montreal has 700 kilometres of bike paths to clear compared to 6,000 kilometres of sidewalks.
"We're asking everyone to be kind enough to share the infrastructures," he said. "If the bike path is in better condition than your sidewalk, in those extreme conditions, feel free to use the bike path as long as you're safe."
He says anyone can call 311 or use the city app to request for a street to be cleaned. He is also calling on Montrealers to keep their recycling bins near their home and to avoid putting their Christmas trees in the middle of the sidewalk, which could delay snow removal operations.
Jump in emergency calls
Vanessa Grillo, a spokesperson for Urgences-santé and supervisor of the emergency and preparedness team, says the ambulance service had to activate its most critical contingency plan yesterday to meet demand.
"Anybody that has paramedic training can be called on the road," she said. "We put managers on the road as well in order to support our instructors, our specialists that are usually more in the offices."
"It's not something that we like to do, but in this situation it was necessary," she added.
Yesterday, Urgences-santé received 1,473 calls — the most it has received in a single day in the past eight years, Grillo said. On a regular day, the agency receives between 800 and 900 calls.
Of yesterday's calls, 225 were about falls, "a large amount" were caused by icy sidewalks, she said.
