Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu · Quebec · 2026–27 season
Snow Day Predictor Saint-Jean-sur-RichelieuWill school be cancelled tomorrow in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu?
Live overnight forecast for Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Iberville, Saint-Luc, L’Acadie, and Saint-Athanase. The predictor tunes to CSS des Hautes-Rivières, Riverside School Board, and CSS Marie-Victorin closure patterns, with bus cancellation probability returned alongside the school-closure number.
Multi-model forecast, five-factor closure engine, province-aware results. No sign-up, no tracking of your queries.
What makes Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu unique
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu lies south of Montreal in the Richelieu River valley near the Vermont border, placing it in a distinct microclimate that often sees freezing rain and ice events when Greater Montreal sees snow.
Montérégie forecast
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu snow day forecast, what to expect this winter
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu sits roughly 40 km south of Montreal in the Richelieu River valley, with the Vermont border less than 30 km to the south. That geography puts the city in a transition zone between the deep continental snow regime of the St. Lawrence corridor and the more maritime, freezing-rain-prone climate that follows the Lake Champlain to Richelieu River trough. Annual snowfall averages near 200 cm, but the more important number for school operations is the freezing-rain hour count: the Richelieu valley records noticeably more ice and mixed-precipitation hours per winter than central Montreal, and freezing rain is the single most common reason buses are cancelled in the Haut-Richelieu region.
School operations in the city are split between the Centre de services scolaire des Hautes-Rivières, the French-language public CSS that covers Saint-Jean and the surrounding Richelieu valley, the Riverside School Board for English-language families, and the neighbouring CSS Marie-Victorin which overlaps along the northern boundary of the territory. Each board makes its own closure call, contracts its own buses, and announces the morning decision by 6:00 am. It is common in a Richelieu-valley ice event for des Hautes-Rivières to cancel buses while Marie-Victorin further north keeps them running, or for Riverside to close English schools on a day when the French CSS stays open.
For Saint-Jean families the practical question on a winter morning is rarely about snow depth alone. The valley’s cold-air pooling combined with warm air aloft on a south-westerly flow produces freezing-rain events that glaze roads in Iberville and Saint-Luc while the same storm falls as snow in Longueuil and Brossard 30 km to the north. Our forecast pulls hourly precipitation type at your exact postal code, which is how the Richelieu freezing-rain corridor shows up correctly even when the broader Montreal forecast calls for snow.
School boards
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu school boards we model
The boards and transportation operators that make the morning closure call for Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.
- Centre de services scolaire des Hautes-Rivières
French-language public CSS for Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and the Richelieu valley, including Iberville, Saint-Luc, L’Acadie, and the surrounding municipalities. Largest board in the city and the default decision-maker for most Saint-Jean students.
- Riverside School Board (RSB)
English-language public board serving the Montérégie South, with schools in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Saint-Lambert, and across the south shore. Closure calls are independent of the French CSS.
- Centre de services scolaire Marie-Victorin
Neighbouring French CSS covering Longueuil and parts of the northern Montérégie. Its territory overlaps the northern edge of the Saint-Jean area, so some families on the boundary follow Marie-Victorin rather than des Hautes-Rivières.
- École catholique francophone connector
A small number of independent French-language Catholic schools operate in the region and follow their own weather protocols, generally tracking the nearest public CSS decision.
Bus transportation
CSS des Hautes-Rivières contracts its own bus operators across the Richelieu valley and makes the morning weather call by 6:00 am. Riverside School Board makes an independent call for its English-language schools in Saint-Jean and across the Montérégie South, typically announced in the same 6:00 am window. CSS Marie-Victorin operates its own transport on its overlapping northern routes. It is common for all three boards to reach different decisions on a freezing-rain morning.
Local weather
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu’s signature winter weather patterns
The phenomena that produce most Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu snow days.
- Richelieu River valley cold-air pooling
On clear, calm nights the Richelieu valley traps cold air against the river, dropping overnight lows 3 to 6 °C below Montreal and the surrounding plain. The pooled cold layer is the launching pad for freezing-rain events: when warm air aloft arrives on a south-westerly flow, the surface stays below zero for hours longer in the valley than on the higher ground to the east and west.
- Lake Champlain influence from the south
The Lake Champlain to Richelieu trough channels milder, moisture-laden air northward from Vermont. Storms riding this corridor frequently produce mixed precipitation in Saint-Jean while delivering plain snow in Montreal and Laval. The Champlain influence is the main reason Saint-Jean sees more freezing-rain hours per winter than the island of Montreal.
- Freezing-rain branch from the St. Lawrence corridor
Major Quebec storms that track up the St. Lawrence often place Saint-Jean on the warm-air-overrunning side of the system. The result is a freezing-rain band that sits over the Haut-Richelieu region for hours while snow falls 50 km to the north. This is the textbook pattern that closed schools across the Montérégie in January 1998 and again in major 2017 and 2022 events.
- Polar air outbreaks
When the polar vortex displaces south into Quebec, Saint-Jean records wind chills in the −35 to −40 °C range. Riverside School Board and CSS des Hautes-Rivières both publish wind-chill thresholds for bus cancellation, and a multi-day polar outbreak will often trigger morning cancellations even with clear skies and no fresh snow.
- Spring late-season storms
The Richelieu valley is unusually exposed to late March and April winter storms, particularly heavy wet snow and freezing-rain events as the river warms but the surrounding air still supports mixed precipitation. April closures are not rare in Saint-Jean, and the April 2011 valley flood-and-ice combination remains a reference event.
History
Notable Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu snow days in recent winters
Storms and ice events that shaped how Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu school boards approach the morning call.
Great Ice Storm
January 5-10, 1998The 1998 ice storm hit the Richelieu valley with particular force, accumulating more than 80 mm of glaze ice over five days. Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu sat inside the triangle of hardest-hit communities (Saint-Jean, Saint-Hyacinthe, Granby) where transmission towers collapsed and power was out for weeks. The Canadian Armed Forces deployed from CFB Saint-Jean to support the regional response. Schools were closed across the entire Haut-Richelieu region for two to three weeks. The 1998 storm remains the benchmark Saint-Jean winter event and is still cited every time a major freezing-rain forecast appears.
Montérégie 38 cm storm
March 8, 2017A late-season Colorado-style low dumped 38 cm of snow across the Montérégie region in a single overnight period, with the Richelieu valley near the upper end of the accumulation map. CSS des Hautes-Rivières, Riverside, and Marie-Victorin all closed schools and cancelled buses. Quebec provincial police closed Highway 35 and parts of Highway 10 for several hours during the morning commute.
Major Quebec winter storm
January 17, 2022A widespread Quebec storm dropped 25 to 35 cm across the Montérégie with strong easterly winds. CSS des Hautes-Rivières closed all schools, Riverside cancelled its English-language operations across Saint-Jean and the south shore, and Highway 35 reported multiple closures. The 2022 storm was the largest single-day closure in the Saint-Jean network since the 2017 event.
Pre-Christmas storm
December 23, 2022A pre-holiday storm combined heavy snow with a freezing-rain transition over the Richelieu valley. Saint-Jean recorded a multi-hour ice period during the morning rush, leading CSS des Hautes-Rivières to cancel buses on the last scheduled school day before the holiday break. The event was a textbook example of the valley’s freezing-rain corridor activating mid-storm.
Richelieu valley flood-and-ice event
April 2011A spring storm combined late-season freezing rain with heavy rainfall onto a snowpack that was already releasing into the Richelieu River. The resulting historic flood inundated low-lying parts of Saint-Jean and the surrounding municipalities for several weeks. Schools closed for ice on the storm day itself and then again later in the spring as the flood affected access roads. The 2011 event reshaped how the city plans for spring weather.
Montérégie ice and snow event
February 13, 2019A two-stage storm delivered 20 cm of snow followed by a freezing-rain finish over Saint-Jean and the Haut-Richelieu. CSS des Hautes-Rivières and Riverside both cancelled morning buses, and the city activated its emergency snow removal protocol for the downtown core.
FAQ
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu snow day frequently asked questions
The 7 questions Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu parents and teachers ask us most.
Will CSS des Hautes-Rivières close tomorrow?
Type your Saint-Jean postal code or "Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec" into the predictor above. The Centre de services scolaire des Hautes-Rivières is the French-language public CSS for Saint-Jean and the Richelieu valley, and its morning closure call is announced by 6:00 am on the day of. The predictor returns separate probabilities for school closure and bus cancellation, since des Hautes-Rivières cancels buses more often than it closes school buildings outright.
Will Riverside School Board close in Saint-Jean tomorrow?
Riverside School Board (RSB) is the English-language public board for the Montérégie South, including its schools in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu. Riverside makes its own closure decision independent of the French CSS, announced by 6:00 am. It is common for Riverside to close English schools on a freezing-rain morning when CSS des Hautes-Rivières keeps its French schools open, or the reverse, because the two boards apply different bus-route thresholds across the same territory.
Will school be cancelled in Iberville or Saint-Luc tomorrow?
Iberville and Saint-Luc are both part of the City of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and are served by CSS des Hautes-Rivières and Riverside School Board. A closure or bus cancellation in Saint-Jean applies city-wide across Iberville, Saint-Luc, L’Acadie, and Saint-Athanase. Enter your specific postal code in the predictor for a forecast tuned to your neighbourhood, since the Richelieu valley freezing-rain corridor can sit over one side of the river and not the other.
How does the Richelieu River valley affect morning forecasts?
The Richelieu valley pools cold air against the river on calm nights, which keeps the surface layer several degrees colder than Montreal or the surrounding higher ground. When warm air arrives aloft on a south-westerly flow, the valley stays below freezing at the surface for hours longer, which is why Saint-Jean sees freezing rain on mornings when the Montreal forecast calls for plain snow. Our predictor uses hourly precipitation-type data at your exact coordinates rather than averaging across the south shore.
Why does Saint-Jean see freezing rain when Montreal sees snow?
Two factors combine. First, the Lake Champlain to Richelieu trough channels milder, more humid air northward from Vermont, which arrives in the valley before it reaches the island of Montreal. Second, the valley itself traps a cold surface layer that resists mixing out. When a storm brings warm air aloft, that warm layer melts falling snow into rain, which then refreezes on contact with the cold surface in Saint-Jean while staying as snow on the warmer high ground around Montreal. The result is a freezing-rain corridor over the Haut-Richelieu that is one of the most reliable winter weather patterns in southern Quebec.
Does CSS Marie-Victorin always close with des Hautes-Rivières?
No. CSS Marie-Victorin covers Longueuil and the northern Montérégie, and its territory only overlaps the northern edge of the Saint-Jean area. On most weather days the two boards reach the same decision, but during freezing-rain events the valley boards (des Hautes-Rivières) and the north-shore boards (Marie-Victorin) regularly split. Marie-Victorin tends to keep schools open more often than des Hautes-Rivières during pure ice events, because the freezing-rain band typically sits south of its main territory.
How did the 1998 ice storm affect Saint-Jean particularly?
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu sat inside the Triangle Noir, the area of hardest-hit communities during the January 1998 ice storm. The city accumulated more than 80 mm of glaze ice over five days, transmission towers fell across the Richelieu valley, and large portions of Saint-Jean were without power for two to three weeks. The Canadian Armed Forces deployed from CFB Saint-Jean to support the regional response, and schools across the Haut-Richelieu were closed for the duration. The 1998 event remains the reference point for serious freezing-rain forecasts in the city.
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