Weather in Quebec: More rain and more darkness

The New Year’s weekend promises to be slippery and wet with rain and roller coaster temperatures expected in many parts of Quebec.

A snow advisory has been issued by Environment Canada for most cities in the province this New Year’s Day. All with 15 to 20 millimeters of rain depending on the region. A good news for the people of Abitibi who need relief from this unwanted rain.

During the night from Friday to Saturday, temperatures were rising to 8 degrees in Montreal and 9 degrees in Quebec. Milder weather will continue Saturday across Quebec, leading up to the New Year’s countdown.

Slippery roads

At the start of the New Year, motorists should be careful as temperatures drop and rain turns to snow in some places.

Roads will be very slippery overnight Sunday into Monday as the mercury drops to -8 degrees in Quebec and all villages from Trois-Rivières to Gaspé.

In the greater Montreal area and western Quebec, temperatures are often below zero.

More breakdowns

As of Friday’s 10 p.m. Hydro-Quebec outage, 5,541 customers were without power in the province.

The toll also increased during the day on Friday as rain caused further disruptions.

These outages are in addition to those lingering from the December 23 storm.

The Centre-du-Québec region was worst hit, with 1,443 customers without power. Laurentians (917), Estrie (884), Lanadier (773) and Morrissey (580) followed.

The number of residences without power in Capital-National decreased significantly, while 204 subscribers were still without power.

About 1,000 Hydro-Quebec workers were still on the ground Friday to reconnect citizens for the New Year’s Day weekend.