Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Synoptic-Scale Analysis Of Freezing Rain Events In Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Gina M. Ressler, Shawn M. Milrad, Eyad H. Atallah, John R. Gyakum

Publications

Freezing rain is a major environmental hazard that is especially common along the St. Lawrence River valley (SLRV) in southern Quebec, Canada. For large cities such as Montreal, severe events can have a devastating effect on people, property, and commerce. In this study, a composite analysis of 46 long-duration events for the period 1979–2008 is presented to identify key synoptic-scale structures and precursors of Montreal freezing rain events. Based on the observed structures of the 500-hPa heights, these events are manually partitioned into three types—west, central, and east—depending on the location and tilt of the 500-hPa trough axis. West events …