Where’d spring go?: Montreal could break an 83-year cold weather record this week

After a genuinely summer-like Saturday that had patios filling up and jackets getting left at home, Montreal woke up Monday morning to a winter chill.

The city’s temperatures went from feeling like May to November in under 36 hours as countless people wondered whether they should turn on the air conditioner or heater.

This cold snap isn’t just unpleasant. It could be historic.

A new MétéoMédia report is flagging Monday as a potential record-breaking weather day for three Quebec cities. In Montreal, the forecast high of 3°C puts an 83-year-old record in jeopardy. The lowest maximum temperature ever recorded for April 20 in the city was 2.8°C, set back in 1943.

If today’s high doesn’t quite reach 3°C, that record falls. Sherbrooke is forecast at 1°C, which would erase a record of 2.7°C from 1988. Quebec City is also sitting at a forecast high of 1°C, right on the edge of its own record of 0.9°C from 1993.

Wind is making everything worse. Westerly gusts of up to 40 km/h are expected across most of the province throughout Monday, pushing wind chills below 0°C everywhere in Quebec — even in areas where the actual temperature technically scrapes above freezing. Montreal and Gatineau are among the warmer spots in the province today with highs around 3°C, while Val-d’Or, Saguenay, Rimouski and Sept-Îles top out at -2°C. Chibougamau won’t get past -6°C.

And then it gets colder overnight.

Tuesday morning is shaping up to be genuinely brutal across Quebec. MétéoMédia is forecasting freezing temperatures province-wide, with Montreal sitting at -3°C and feeling closer to -7°C with the wind. Quebec City drops to -7°C, Saguenay to -10°C and Sept-Îles all the way down to -12°C. Tuesday afternoon does recover somewhat — a high of 7°C is in the forecast for Montreal, with a mix of sun and cloud — but mornings are going to sting for a while yet.

The rest of the week offers a gradual thaw. Wednesday brings a high of 12°C in the afternoon, Thursday reaches 13°C, and Friday is looking mainly sunny with another 13°C. It’s not exactly the spring warmth everyone was hoping for, but it’s a significant improvement over what Monday and Tuesday are serving up.

For context, this brutal stretch lands against an already gloomy seasonal backdrop. A recent MétéoMédia report warned that May and June are expected to be cooler than normal across southern Quebec this year, with an incoming El Niño pattern pushing warmth toward Western Canada.

The moment meteorologists call “felt summer” — when temperatures durably settle around 23 to 25°C — could arrive later than usual. This week should serve as a reminder that we’re not even close to that yet.