Around ten skaters braved the cold for the opening of the Old Port of Montreal ice rink, taking advantage of the clear sky despite the temperature being below seasonal averages.
“We reached our first -10°C of the season,” underlines Nicolas Lessard, meteorologist at MétéoMédia, indicating through the tape that the weekend is taking place below seasonal averages.
Usually, the temperature usually hovers around freezing point at this time of year. The mercury instead dropped to -6 degrees Celsius on Friday and plunged to -11°C on Saturday.
On Sunday, the temperature will rise to -6°C.
Good weather for board sports
As the Journal passed through the Old Port on Saturday, around ten sportsmen and boaters were twirling on the ice rink under a sunny sky.
“I’m trying to learn to skate, it’s relaxing for me,” Fatima rejoices in French, her cheeks red from the cold and excited about the opening of the Old Port of Montreal ice rink this weekend.
Around ten skaters braved the cold for the opening of the Old Port of Montreal ice rink, taking advantage of the clear sky despite the temperature being below seasonal averages. PHOTO ZOÉ ARCAND
Photo Zoé Arcand
For four years, she has been coming to this rink occasionally, which she particularly likes for its light and music.
This season, she is determined to skate more regularly. “It’s my resolution,” explains the one who signed up for private lessons.
“I have an annual pass,” says Anne, another ice skating enthusiast who indulges in this skating sport at least once a week with a small group of friends.
Going to the refrigerated ice rinks of Greater Montreal is a winter tradition for the Montrealer since “you have to keep moving, even if it’s winter.”
She also believes that with increasingly warm winters “we will have no choice” to install more of these rinks in Greater Montreal.
The rain awaits us
In Quebec, The Journal came across the Vaudrin sisters, who had already planned to walk the city with their mother and aunt and who would not have changed their plans regardless of the temperature.
Around ten skaters braved the cold for the opening of the Old Port of Montreal ice rink, taking advantage of the clear sky despite the temperature being below seasonal averages. PHOTO ZOÉ ARCAND
Photo Zoé Arcand
“We were not influenced by the weather but we are happy that the weather is good,” they said. We are a family that loves winter.”
However, they will have to come to terms with the idea that the mercury could rise at the beginning of next week, a low pressure center will cross southern Quebec, bringing with it significant temperature variations, predicts meteorologist Nicolas Lessard.
Because the mercury will rise above zero to hover around 6 degrees on Tuesday, while rain is expected to fall in the region.
The water should largely have time to be absorbed by the soil before freezing, “thus giving municipalities time to reapply salt,” preventing motorists and pedestrians from traveling in dangerous conditions.
-With Sarah-Jeanne Tremblay
