Quebecers will have to fasten their hats with a spit this winter since a meteorological phenomenon could cause greater cooling in the coming months according to an expert.
“We must expect a winter that is much less warm than [l’an] last year, a much more typical Quebec winter,” declared Jean-Philippe Bégin, meteorologist at Environment Canada in an interview with LCN on Friday.
The American climate prediction center NOAA mentioned that there is a 60% chance that a weak La Niña episode will develop this fall and which could last until March 2025.
“We are going to push more warm water towards the western Pacific […] therefore, it creates an area of cold water in the east [de l’océan]», explained Mr. Bégin.
“The areas near this area of cold water will be influenced by colder temperatures. With us, the correlation is much more diffuse, it is less clear,” he added.
This phenomenon is the opposite of El Niño, which produces higher than normal water temperatures in the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean.
Photo Agence QMI, JOEL LEMAY
“Colder”
The winter of 2024 is not “comparable” to the one that is approaching, according to the expert.
It was “quite exceptional, in the top three of the mildest winters ever recorded in Quebec. We didn’t even observe a temperature below -20°C at the Montreal airport all last winter,” said Jean-Philippe Bégin.
Normally, this temperature is reached a dozen times.
“We should expect to be a little colder this year,” he warned.
However, the weather will remain more pleasant for the next few days, with temperatures varying between 15°C and 20°C for the majority of Quebecers. The sun will be out until Tuesday.
