While today is warm and sunny and we’re very tempted to skip school and hang out on the streets of Montreal, a storm is brewing to spoil our fun.
Météo Média is talking about a “weather cocktail” and, according to what we’ve read, it’s recommended that we stock up on supplies to host a mixology workshop at home because going out for a drink will be difficult—if not impossible—this weekend.
Freezing rain and sleet
Freezing rain is like a dirty word in Quebec—or a mystical call to the worst storms of our childhood, the most devastating ones.
Freezing rain is rain that remains liquid below freezing (zero degrees Celsius) due to the collision of a mass of warm, humid air and a cold front. When this rain comes into contact with an object, it turns to ice. And the very frightening black ice forms.
Long-time Montrealers remember the storm of January 1998, when 100 mm of freezing rain fell on Montreal and the city was completely covered in a thick layer of ice. Power lines cracked and broke under its weight, cars were immobilized, and front doors were sealed shut. To this day, it remains one of the most devastating weather events Quebec has ever experienced.
Cocktail storm
It’s the very beginning of spring and it’s cold, it’s hot, it’s cold—and all this instability has created a layer of warm air and icy air that will promote a transition from snow to sleet and—horror of horrors!—freezing rain. With a little bit of luck, however, the freezing rain could be just plain rain.
The problem is that the air layer is arriving at the same time as a forecast of 20 to 30 millimeters of precipitation (snow, rain, or freezing rain) for Greater Montreal, Montérégie, Outaouais, Laurentides, Lanaudière, Mauricie, Centre-du-Québec, and the Capitale-Nationale region.
Freezing rain could last 24 hours, from Wednesday, March 11 to Thursday, March 12, 2026, and it could paralyze many things in Montreal: hydroelectricity and the power outages that go with it, very dangerous or impassable roads, closed stores (hence the cocktail mix at home).
We recommend preparing for power outages by dusting off the generator and plugging in our portable battery so it’s ready to use.
In the car, we restock the windshield washer fluid and drive very slowly—and only if we have to.
The candles we received for Christmas could also come in handy very soon…
Be careful!