Saturday was the hottest November day on record in Montreal

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Montrealers flocked to Mount Royal and other parks and waterfronts to enjoy temperatures exceeding 24 degrees on Saturday – the hottest November day on record in the city.

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“We just broke the November record,” Environment Canada meteorologist Dominic Martel told the Montreal Gazette Saturday afternoon, noting that the mercury hit 24.3 at Trudeau International Airport between 2 p.m. 3 p.m.

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The previous record in Montreal for the month of November of 22.4 degrees was November 10, 2020. The all-time high for that specific day – November 5 – was previously 21.1 degrees in 1938.

This follows strangely warm weather in October, with 19 days above the average 8.5 degrees and eight days when temperatures exceeded 20 degrees. Normally, that only happens over three days, Martel said.

“In Montreal, we were almost two degrees above the normal average temperature for October. It was quite high and the amount of precipitation was 44% of what we usually get in October,” he said, noting that Montreal received 40 millimeters of rain in October, while the average is 91 mm. “So it was a lot sunnier than usual and a bit warmer.”

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Since Environment Canada only has data for the past 100 years or so, it’s not possible to say how much of the temperature increase is due to climate change, he said.

“Ideally, we would need to look at trends over 1,000 years to say what is attributable to normal variations and what is attributable to climate change, for sure,” he said. “But many records have been broken over the past 20 years, so we’re seeing a trend” that matches what climate scientists predicted would happen with rising greenhouse gas emissions.

Quebec experienced a five-day autumnal heat wave from October 22 to 27, with places like Schefferville experiencing temperatures nearly 18 degrees above normal on October 26, and St-Anicet in the south of Quebec reached 26.3 degrees the same day.

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Although it was warmer than average, it was not a record October, Martel said. In October 2017, the average temperature was 13.1 degrees, about 4.5 degrees higher than the 30-year average of 8.5 degrees. Last October, meanwhile, there were only 1.9 degrees above average in Montreal.

But some places in eastern Quebec experienced much warmer temperatures than usual in October, such as Gaspé, where the average temperature in October was 3.2 degrees above their normal of 5.6 degrees, and Mont-Joli, near Rimouski, which saw temperatures 4 degrees above their average of 5.8.

There has been no snowfall yet this fall, and temperatures only dropped below freezing twice in October, on October 28 and 29.

“It’s not uncommon, for sure, to have snow before Halloween, but in fact we had a high of 15.4 on Halloween in Montreal this year, and in the evening, it was close to 11, so it was much better than zero, when kids have to wear coats under their costumes.

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This mild Halloween weather was undoubtedly particularly appreciated by Montrealers, since Halloween has been the touch-and-go in the city for the past three years. In 2019, Halloween was marred by predictions of a dangerous windstorm that prompted Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante to suggest parents not bring their children until the following evening. But the expected 60 mph winds actually arrived a day later than expected, effectively canceling Halloween for many that year. And the COVID-19 pandemic has managed to dampen Halloween fun in 2020 and 2021.

Martel said showers are expected on Sunday and temperatures should return to normal for this time of year on Tuesday, with highs of around 10 degrees. Temperatures are expected to stay within the normal range for a few days, with a drop expected after Nov. 12 or 13, bringing the possibility of snow, he said.

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