Montréal Snowfall Totals & Accumulation Averages
This page pulls together information on when, how much and how often Montréal, Quebec has snow.
There are data and descriptions here of how many days it snows and the total amount of snowfall that Montréal usually gets. There are also monthly and yearly counts of the days that Montréal normally has heavy snowstorms and deep snow accumulated on the ground. Plus there's information on when the city can expect its first and last snowfalls of the season.
The first set of monthly snow totals are averages for 2010 to 2019. All the other numbers are long-term historical averages based on weather data gathered from 1981 to 2010 at Montréal's Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport.
How Often it Snows in Montréal
| Inches | Centimetres | |
|---|---|---|
| January | 18.4 | 47 |
| February | 20.8 | 53 |
| March | 13.5 | 34 |
| April | 3.9 | 10 |
| May | 0.0 | 0 |
| October | 0.2 | 1 |
| November | 5.4 | 14 |
| December | 20.7 | 53 |
| Year | 83.0 | 211 |
| Days | Inches | Centimetres | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15.3 | January | 19.5 | 50 |
| 12.1 | February | 16.2 | 41 |
| 9.1 | March | 14.2 | 36 |
| 3.2 | April | 5.1 | 13 |
| 0.1 | May | 0.0 | 0 |
| 0.7 | October | 0.7 | 2 |
| 5.4 | November | 7.5 | 19 |
| 13.0 | December | 19.2 | 49 |
| 58.9 | Year | 82.5 | 210 |
When Montréal Has Its First & Last Snowfalls
The first snowfall of winter for Montréal often arrives in November, but snow can show up in October or as early as September.
The season's last snowfall typically happens in April although about once a decade a late snowfall lands in May.
Montréal is normally free of snow every year from June to August.
How Many Snowstorms Montréal Gets
Most days of snowfall in Montréal leave less than five centimetres (2 inches), of fresh snow on the ground. For 14 days a year on average the amount of new snow totals at least five cm.
Big snowstorms of over ten cm a day normally occur five or six times a year. But major blizzards that dump 25 cm or more in one day are rare events that don't happen every year. Storms this severe are most likely to appear in December.
| 5 cm 2.0 inches |
10 cm 3.9 inches |
25 cm 9.8 inches | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.2 | 1.1 | 0.0 |
| February | 2.6 | 1.0 | 0.1 |
| March | 2.2 | 0.9 | 0.1 |
| April | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
| October | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| November | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.0 |
| December | 3.3 | 1.3 | 0.2 |
| Year | 13.6 | 5.4 | 0.5 |
How Much Snow Normally Accumulates in Montréal
For about 104 days a year, Montréal has at least a centimetre of snow on the ground. In mid-winter the snowpack averages 13 cm deep.
Generally the snow cover builds in late December. Deep snow lingers in Montréal during most of January, February and into early March. The snow melts entirely by the end of April.
| 1 cm 0.4 inches |
5 cm 2.0 inches |
10 cm 3.9 inches |
20 cm 7.9 inches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28.7 | 23.6 | January | 15.5 | 5.2 |
| 26.4 | 20.9 | February | 14.1 | 7.4 |
| 20.0 | 15.0 | March | 11.2 | 6.0 |
| 2.6 | 1.3 | April | 0.8 | 0.3 |
| 0.1 | 0.0 | October | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 5.0 | 2.2 | November | 0.7 | 0.1 |
| 21.2 | 16.5 | December | 10.3 | 2.4 |
| 104.1 | 79.6 | Year | 52.5 | 21.3 |
References
Environment Canada. Meteorological Service of Canada. Canadian Climate Normals. 1981-2010 Climate Normals & Averages.
Jay Lawrimore, Ron Ray, Scott Applequist, Bryant Korzeniewski, Matthew Menne. 2016. Global Summary of the Month and Year, Version 1.0. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.