MONTREAL -- Montrealers got their first 20-degree temperature reading of the year on Thursday and records across southwestern Quebec have been broken.
Montreal hit a high of 21 degrees Celsius, breaking the old record of 16.7 degrees Celsius set in 1996. Temperature records were also broken in places like Ottawa and Sherbrooke.
Thursday's high in Montreal was more than 15 degrees above average and the city’s sixth straight day with above average temperatures. (Montreal also set a daily temperature record on Tuesday, with a high of 19 degrees Celsius.)
The stretch of double digit warmth will come to an end heading into the weekend as a moisture-laden low tracks up from the United States. Heavy rain is in the forecast for much of southwestern Quebec on Friday, and Environment Canada has issued rainfall warnings, with most areas expecting between 25 and 40 mm of rainfall.
Areas further north are expecting more wintery weather with a combination of snow and freezing rain.
FUTURECAST
As the low moves in, winds will shift to the northeast and increase. The Quebec city region could see gusts of up to 90 km/h beginning Friday afternoon which could cause tree branches to break and power outages.
So far, the month of March has been very dry, with very little precipitation.
The next few days will change that, with heavy rain in the forecast on Friday, and additional rainfall on Sunday.
