A taste of spring weather for Montreal – but winter is far behind | Weather in the suburbs

After a very dismal January, we've had an early taste of spring in southern Quebec since February. Along with most of January, November and December, there was a lot of cloud cover for the shortened days.

On Wednesday, I had an interesting conversation with David Phillips, a senior climatologist at Environment and Climate Change Canada. We discussed the limited sun, lack of snow and dark weather that has dominated this winter to start the year. Phillips estimates that there were no more than 17 hours of sunlight in a month. Combine that with a lack of snowpack or lingering cold to support outdoor winter sports and other activities, and it's been a long and difficult month for many.

On the other hand, February has been quite the opposite so far. It hadn't snowed yet, but the sunshine was better. It's only been eight days, and we've had full sun 5 out of the 8 days. As I write on Thursday afternoon, the temperature is an unseasonably warm 6C (43F) under mostly sunny skies. We are close to the record high of 6.7C (44F) set in 1949, but I don't think we will reach it today.

Milder weather will continue through the weekend, but clouds will increase. A few showers are possible Friday and Saturday afternoon. Temperatures will be very mild, with highs between plus 5 and 7C (41-45F), with lows around 3C (38F) above freezing until Sunday. A cold front will arrive on Sunday, and cold air will return next week.

It didn't snow in Montreal this February, which is very unusual. On Sunday and Monday evening, there may be slight disturbances. We are tracking the storm track along the coast on Tuesday, but for now I think it will stay south of the Montreal area. Colder temperatures will return next week and stay below freezing by the end of the month.

While we enjoyed the sun and mild temperatures, some parts of both coasts were hit by severe storms. Almost a year's worth of rain fell in just a few days on the US Pacific coast, with more than 250 mm of rain falling in the Los Angeles basin. Heavy rain and strong winds caused power outages, mudslides and widespread flooding.

On the East Coast, between 60 and 150 cm of snow fell on Cape Breton Island and parts of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Many communities still dig from drifts several meters high.