Dangerous thunderstorms and risk of tornadoes in Quebec

Freezing rain, severe storm and possible tornado alerts are in effect in Quebec.

Weather conditions are favourable for the formation of dangerous thunderstorms that could produce damage-causing gusts and even tornadoes in certain regions north and south of the St. Lawrence River, due to sudden temperature variations.

Environment Canada issued several wind and freezing rain warnings and severe thunderstorm watches on Tuesday afternoon.

Conditions are favourable for the formation of tornadoes in the Laval, Laurentians, Lanaudière, Outaouais and Abitibi-Témiscamingue regions, as well as in Centre-du-Québec, Chaudière-Appalaches and parts of Montérégie and Estrie.

There are winds from the south, in southern Quebec, bringing a mass of warm air for this time of year’ and “there is a cold front further north, from Abitibi, bringing much colder weather south,” said Environment Canada meteorologist Peter Kimbell, adding in the early afternoon that the risk of a tornado was low.

The temperature, which was hovering above 20 degrees Celsius on Tuesday afternoon in some areas, is expected to drop rapidly to near freezing on Wednesday morning.

“Ahead of the change, this afternoon and evening, before the arrival of the cold front, we have an unstable air mass, so thunderstorms have already developed and will continue to develop during the afternoon and evening. These thunderstorms are potentially violent,” explained the Environment Canada meteorologist.

In Gatineau, the federal agency indicated that the region could experience “destructive gusts to 110 km/h” and “large hail up to 4 cm in diameter.”

In the Rouyn area, between 10 and 20 millimetres of rain are expected, while “temperatures will drop very quickly to near freezing as a cold front passes through and the rain will turn to freezing rain,” warned Environment Canada.

This report by The Canadian Press was published in French on April 29, 2025.