Geography

Main article: Geography of Montreal

Montreal is located in the southwest of the province of Quebec. The city proper covers most of the Island of Montreal at the confluence of the Saint Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers. The port of Montreal lies at one end of the Saint Lawrence Seaway, which is the river gateway that stretches from the Great Lakes into the Atlantic Ocean. Montreal is defined by its location in between the Saint Lawrence river on its south, and by the Rivière des Prairies on its north. The city is named after the most prominent geographical feature on the island, a three-head hill called Mount Royal, topped at 232 m above sea level.

Montreal is at the centre of the Montreal Metropolitan Community, and is bordered by the city of Laval to the north, Longueuil, Saint-Lambert, Brossard, and other municipalities to the south, Repentigny to the east and the West Island municipalities to the west. The anglophone enclaves of Westmount, Montreal West, Hampstead, Côte Saint-Luc, the Town of Mount Royal and the francophone enclave Montreal East are all entirely surrounded by the city of Montreal.

Climate

Montreal lies at the confluence of several climatic regions and enjoys four distinct seasons. Usually, its climate is classified as humid continental (Köppen climate classification: Dfa).

Bonsecours Market in autumn.

Montreal's summers are humid, and range from warm to hot, with a daily average of 21 to 22 °C (70 to 72 °F) in July; temperatures in excess of 30 °C (86 °F) are not uncommon. Conversely, cold fronts can bring crisp, windy weather in the early and later parts of summer.

Winter in Montreal usually brings cold, snowy, windy, and, at times, icy weather, with a daily average of around −10 °C (14 °F) in January. However, some winter days rise above freezing, allowing for rain on an average of 4 days in January and February each. Usually, snow cover lasts more or less from the first or second week of December until the last week of March. On average, there are 8.2 nights below −20 °C (−4 °F), and while the temperature does not fall to −30 °C (−22 °F) every year, the wind chill can easily make the temperature feel this low.

Spring and fall are pleasantly mild but prone to drastic temperature changes; spring even more so than fall. April tends to be mild and sunny whereas May is rather warm and quite wet. Late season heat waves as well as "Indian summers" are possible as well as snow storms in November and March.

The lowest temperature in Environment Canada's books was −37.8 °C (−36 °F) on January 15, 1957, and the highest temperature was 37.6 °C (100 °F) on August 1, 1975, both at Dorval International Airport.

Before modern weather record keeping (which dates back to 1871 for McGill), a minimum temperature almost 5 degrees lower was recorded at 7am on January 10, 1859, where it registered at −43.6 °F (−42 °C).

Annual precipitation is around 980 mm (39 in), including an average of about 225 cm (89 in) of snowfall, which occurs from November through March. Thunderstorms are common beginning in the late spring through summer to the early fall period; additionally, tropical storms or their remnants can cause heavy rains. Montreal averages 2,029 hours of sunshine annually, with summer being the sunniest season, though slightly wetter than the others in terms of total precipitation.

Climate data for Montreal (McGill) Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year Record high °C (°F) 12.8 (55) 15.0 (59) 25.0 (77) 30.0 (86) 32.8 (91) 34.8 (94.6) 36.1 (97) 35.6 (96.1) 32.8 (91) 28.9 (84) 22.2 (72) 15.0 (59) 36.1 (97) Average high °C (°F) −5.4 (22.3) −3.7 (25.3) 2.4 (36.3) 11.0 (51.8) 19.0 (66.2) 23.7 (74.7) 26.6 (79.9) 24.8 (76.6) 19.4 (66.9) 12.3 (54.1) 5.1 (41.2) −2.3 (27.9) 11.1 (50.9) Daily mean °C (°F) −8.9 (16) −7.2 (19) −1.2 (29.8) 7.0 (44.6) 14.5 (58.1) 19.3 (66.7) 22.3 (72.1) 20.8 (69.4) 15.7 (60.3) 9.2 (48.6) 2.5 (36.5) −5.6 (21.9) 7.37 (45.25) Average low °C (°F) −12.4 (9.7) −10.6 (12.9) −4.8 (23.4) 2.9 (37.2) 10.0 (50) 14.9 (58.8) 17.9 (64.2) 16.7 (62.1) 11.9 (53.4) 5.9 (42.6) −0.2 (31.6) −8.9 (16) 3.6 (38.5) Record low °C (°F) −33.5 (−28.3) −33.3 (−27.9) −28.9 (−20) −17.8 (0) −5 (23) 1.1 (34) 7.8 (46) 6.1 (43) 0.0 (32) −7.2 (19) −27.8 (−18) −33.9 (−29) −33.9 (−29) Precipitation mm (inches) 73.6 (2.898) 70.9 (2.791) 80.2 (3.157) 76.9 (3.028) 86.5 (3.406) 87.5 (3.445) 106.2 (4.181) 100.6 (3.961) 100.8 (3.969) 84.3 (3.319) 93.6 (3.685) 101.5 (3.996) 1,062.6 (41.836) Rainfall mm (inches) 28.4 (1.118) 22.7 (0.894) 42.2 (1.661) 65.2 (2.567) 86.1 (3.39) 87.5 (3.445) 106.2 (4.181) 100.6 (3.961) 100.8 (3.969) 82.1 (3.232) 68.9 (2.713) 44.4 (1.748) 834.9 (32.87) Snowfall cm (inches) 45.9 (18.07) 46.6 (18.35) 36.8 (14.49) 11.8 (4.65) 0.4 (0.16) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 2.2 (0.87) 24.9 (9.8) 57.8 (22.76) 226.4 (89.15) Avg. precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm) 15.8 12.8 13.6 12.5 12.9 13.8 12.3 13.4 12.7 13.1 15.0 16.2 164.1 Avg. rainy days (≥ 0.2 mm) 4.3 4.0 7.4 10.9 12.8 13.8 12.3 13.4 12.7 12.7 11.5 6.5 122.2 Avg. snowy days (≥ 0.2 cm) 13.6 11.1 8.3 3.0 0.14 0 0 0 0 0.62 5.3 12.0 53.9 Mean monthly sunshine hours 99.2 119.5 158.8 181.7 229.8 250.1 271.6 230.7 174.1 138.6 80.4 80.7 2,015.2 Source: Environment Canada (sun 1961–1990)