Montreal · Quebec · 2026–27 season
Snow Day Predictor MontrealWill school be cancelled tomorrow in Montreal?
Live overnight forecast for the Island of Montreal, including the Plateau, Verdun, Hochelaga, Saint-Laurent, the West Island, and Rivière-des-Prairies. The predictor tunes to CSSDM, EMSB, and Lester B. Pearson closure patterns, with separate signals for each French centre de services scolaire and English board.
Multi-model forecast, five-factor closure engine, province-aware results. No sign-up, no tracking of your queries.
What makes Montreal unique
Montreal is Canada’s second-largest city and home to four parallel school networks: French CSSDM and the English Montreal School Board on the Island, plus Lester B. Pearson and Sir Wilfrid Laurier on the off-island sides. Closures happen separately across each network.
Island of Montreal forecast
Montreal snow day forecast, what to expect this winter
Montreal sits at the confluence of the St. Lawrence and Ottawa rivers, in a corridor that records the highest freezing-rain frequency of any major Canadian city. Annual snowfall on the Island averages around 210 cm, nearly double Toronto, and the city is hit by a wider range of winter precipitation types: heavy lake-effect-like bursts off Lake Saint-Louis, mid-winter mixed-precipitation events that ride the St. Lawrence Valley north from the Atlantic, and pure Arctic outbreaks that push wind chill below minus 30 degrees Celsius. The forecast that matters for a Montreal school day is rarely about pure snowfall, it is about how those layers stack up between 9 pm and 6 am.
School operations in Montreal are unusually fragmented. The Island and its surrounding off-island sectors are served by five major networks running in parallel: the Centre de services scolaire de Montréal (CSSDM, the largest French CSS in Canada), CSS Marguerite-Bourgeoys in the West Island, CSS de la Pointe-de-l’Île in the east end, the English Montreal School Board (EMSB) across the Island, and Lester B. Pearson School Board in the West Island English sector. Each board makes its own closure call. Unlike Ontario, where transportation consortia bundle multiple boards under a single bus authority, Quebec leaves bus decisions to each CSS or English board, who contract private operators directly.
That structure means a single Montreal storm can produce four or five different outcomes on the same morning: CSSDM open, EMSB closed, Lester B. Pearson buses cancelled, Pointe-de-l’Île on a delayed start. Our forecast returns a probability tuned to the Island’s freezing-rain climatology and the specific thresholds each network has used historically. Type a Montreal postal code and the predictor pulls hourly data at your exact coordinates, which matters because conditions in Pierrefonds at the western tip of the Island can differ sharply from Anjou or Montréal-Nord in the same event.
School boards
Montreal school boards we model
The boards and transportation operators that make the morning closure call for Montreal.
- Centre de services scolaire de Montréal (CSSDM)
The largest French centre de services scolaire in Canada, serving central and eastern Island neighbourhoods including the Plateau, Hochelaga, Villeray, and Ahuntsic. Independent closure decisions, communicated through cssdm.gouv.qc.ca and Radio-Canada.
- Centre de services scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys
French network covering the West Island and southwest sectors including LaSalle, Lachine, Dorval, and Pierrefonds-Roxboro. Often calls closures earlier than CSSDM when freezing rain affects West Island elevations.
- Centre de services scolaire de la Pointe-de-l’Île
French network for east-end Montreal including Rivière-des-Prairies, Pointe-aux-Trembles, Anjou, and Montréal-Est. Exposed to cold-air pooling along the Rivière des Prairies.
- English Montreal School Board (EMSB)
Largest English public board on the Island, serving Côte-des-Neiges, NDG, Saint-Léonard, Saint-Michel, and downtown. Decisions made independently of the French CSS networks; communicated through emsb.qc.ca.
- Lester B. Pearson School Board
English board for the West Island, Lachine, LaSalle, and off-island West Island communities. Often the first Montreal-area English board to close when West Island freezing rain or heavy snowfall is forecast.
Bus transportation
Each centre de services scolaire and English board contracts its own private bus operators, with companies such as Autobus Brunet, Groupe Autobus Galland, Autobus Idéal, and Autobus Transcobec handling routes across different networks. Quebec does not use the multi-board transportation consortia common in Ontario, so every network makes its own bus call. Bus cancellations are normally announced between 5:30 and 6:30 am the morning of, by each board on its own channels.
Local weather
Montreal’s signature winter weather patterns
The phenomena that produce most Montreal snow days.
- St. Lawrence freezing-rain corridor
Montreal lies in the most active freezing-rain corridor in Canada. Warm Atlantic air rides north up the St. Lawrence Valley while cold surface air drains down from the Laurentians, producing a near-perfect freezing-rain profile. The Island averages 45 to 60 hours of freezing rain per winter, more than any other major Canadian city.
- Mount Royal urban heat island
Downtown Montreal and the slopes of Mount Royal can run 2 to 4 degrees Celsius warmer than lower-elevation neighbourhoods such as Saint-Laurent, Saint-Michel, and the West Island. A storm that delivers freezing rain in Pierrefonds can fall as plain rain on the Plateau, and the predictor pulls hourly data at your exact postal code rather than averaging across the Island.
- Lake Saint-Louis and Rivière des Prairies cold-air pooling
The waters of Lake Saint-Louis to the southwest and the Rivière des Prairies along the north shore of the Island encourage cold-air pooling on calm clear nights. Surface temperatures in Rivière-des-Prairies and the West Island can drop several degrees below the downtown reading, flipping borderline precipitation to ice pellets or snow.
- Atlantic moisture funnelled up the St. Lawrence
Storms that track from the U.S. Eastern Seaboard funnel Atlantic moisture northwest along the St. Lawrence Valley directly into Montreal. These nor’easter-style events produce the city’s heaviest single-day snowfalls and are the dominant pattern for major Montreal closures from January through March.
- Polar air outbreaks and minus 30 wind chill
Arctic high-pressure systems descending from northern Quebec push real temperatures to minus 25 Celsius or colder on the Island, with wind chills approaching minus 40. Boards do not close buildings purely for cold, but bus operators frequently cancel routes when extreme wind chill coincides with morning rush.
History
Notable Montreal snow days in recent winters
Storms and ice events that shaped how Montreal school boards approach the morning call.
Great Ice Storm (Tempête du verglas)
January 5-10, 1998More than 30 mm of freezing rain over five days coated Montreal and the Montérégie in glaze ice, collapsing the Hydro-Québec transmission network and leaving over 4 million Quebecers without power, some for more than a month. Every school network on the Island closed for weeks. The Great Ice Storm remains the defining Quebec winter event and shaped current emergency policy.
Mid-March snowstorm
March 8, 2017A rapidly intensifying low brought 38 cm of snow to Montreal in roughly 12 hours, with sustained winds above 60 km/h. CSSDM, EMSB, and Lester B. Pearson all closed, the STM suspended bus service across the Island, and Highway 13 was shut overnight with hundreds of motorists stranded. The provincial response prompted a public inquiry.
Tempête du Siècle (Storm of the Century)
March 4-5, 1971A nor’easter dumped roughly 47 cm of snow on Montreal in 24 hours with winds gusting past 100 km/h, paralysing the city and killing 17 people across southern Quebec. Schools, the metro, and major roads were closed for several days. Still the benchmark single-day snowfall against which every later Montreal storm is measured.
January 2022 winter storm
January 16-17, 2022A Colorado low tracking through the St. Lawrence Valley delivered 25 to 35 cm of snow to the Island with blowing snow advisories. CSSDM, CSS Marguerite-Bourgeoys, CSS Pointe-de-l’Île, EMSB, and Lester B. Pearson all closed in coordinated calls, an outcome that is rare across all four networks at once.
Pre-Christmas storm and travel chaos
December 23, 2022A late-December storm combined 20 cm of snow, freezing rain, and 90 km/h winds the day before the holidays. Schools were already off but Trudeau Airport cancelled hundreds of flights and Via Rail’s Ottawa-Montreal-Toronto corridor shut down for days. The event is now cited whenever pre-holiday storms are forecast.
February 2019 mixed-precipitation event
February 13, 2019A textbook St. Lawrence Valley freezing-rain event, 20 mm of ice glaze followed by 15 cm of snow over a 24-hour period. EMSB and Lester B. Pearson closed first; CSSDM and CSS Marguerite-Bourgeoys followed by the morning call. A reminder that the freezing-rain corridor, not pure snowfall, drives most Montreal closures.
FAQ
Montreal snow day frequently asked questions
The 7 questions Montreal parents and teachers ask us most.
Will CSSDM close tomorrow?
Type your Montreal postal code or "Montreal, Quebec" into the predictor above. The Centre de services scolaire de Montréal (CSSDM) makes its closure call independently of the English Montreal School Board and the West Island French CSS, typically between 5:30 and 6:30 am the morning of. CSSDM closes for combinations of heavy snowfall, freezing rain greater than 5 mm, or extreme wind chill. The official announcement appears on cssdm.gouv.qc.ca and on Radio-Canada.
Will EMSB schools close tomorrow?
The English Montreal School Board makes its own decision separately from CSSDM, even though both serve overlapping Island neighbourhoods. EMSB tends to align with CSSDM on major storms but can diverge on borderline freezing-rain events, particularly in NDG, Côte-des-Neiges, and Saint-Léonard. Check emsb.qc.ca and the EMSB social channels for the morning call; our predictor returns an advance probability the night before.
Why does freezing rain close Montreal more often than snow?
Montreal sits in the St. Lawrence freezing-rain corridor, the most active in Canada, where warm Atlantic air overruns cold surface air pooled along the river valley. The Island averages 45 to 60 hours of freezing rain a year. Glaze ice on sidewalks and roads is significantly more dangerous for student walkers and buses than equivalent snow, so 5 to 10 mm of freezing rain often produces closures that 15 to 20 cm of snow would not.
How is the 1998 ice storm still affecting Quebec policy today?
The January 1998 Great Ice Storm reshaped how Quebec handles winter emergencies. Hydro-Québec rebuilt parts of the transmission grid with redundant looping; the province standardised emergency shelter protocols across municipalities; and school boards adopted lower freezing-rain thresholds for closures. Every modern Montreal ice event is judged against the 1998 benchmark, and CSSDM, EMSB, and the West Island boards are quicker to close on forecast freezing rain than they were before 1998.
Are bus operators (Brunet, Galland) and the CSS coordinated?
Each centre de services scolaire and English board contracts its own private bus operators (Autobus Brunet, Groupe Autobus Galland, Autobus Idéal, Autobus Transcobec, and others). Unlike Ontario’s multi-board consortia, Quebec does not pool transportation decisions across boards. An operator can cancel routes for one CSS while another CSS runs normally on the same morning, even when the same buses serve both networks on alternating shifts. Always check the announcement from your specific board.
Will Lester B. Pearson close with CSSDM (English vs French)?
Not necessarily. Lester B. Pearson School Board covers the West Island English sector and tends to follow West Island weather, which often differs from central Montreal. Pearson frequently closes before CSSDM when freezing rain or heavy snow hits Pierrefonds, Dollard-des-Ormeaux, or Beaconsfield first, and occasionally stays open when CSSDM closes for downtown conditions. Pearson and CSS Marguerite-Bourgeoys, which share the West Island territory, are more closely aligned than Pearson and CSSDM.
Will school be cancelled in Plateau or Verdun tomorrow?
The Plateau Mont-Royal and Verdun are both served by CSSDM (French) and EMSB (English), with no separate borough-level decision-making. A CSSDM or EMSB closure applies across all Island neighbourhoods on its network. However, conditions differ across the Island: Verdun sits closer to the St. Lawrence and is more exposed to freezing rain, while the Plateau benefits slightly from the Mount Royal urban heat island. Enter your specific postal code in the predictor above for a forecast that reflects your exact coordinates.
Near Montreal
Nearby Quebec cities
Other Quebec cities our forecast covers — same regional profile, different local weather.
Looking for forecasts across the rest of Quebec? View the Quebec hub with all school boards, transportation consortia, weather zones, and a full city directory. Or browse the provinces & territories hub for every Canadian region.
Also in Quebec: Quebec City · Gatineau · Sherbrooke · Trois-Rivières · Saguenay · Lévis
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