Trois-Rivières · Quebec · 2026–27 season
Snow Day Predictor Trois-RivièresWill school be cancelled tomorrow in Trois-Rivières?
Live overnight forecast for Trois-Rivières, Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Trois-Rivières-Ouest, Pointe-du-Lac, and the broader Mauricie region. The predictor tunes to CSS du Chemin-du-Roy, CSS de l'Énergie, and Central Quebec School Board closure patterns along the mid-St-Lawrence.
Multi-model forecast, five-factor closure engine, province-aware results. No sign-up, no tracking of your queries.
What makes Trois-Rivières unique
Trois-Rivières sits at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice and St. Lawrence rivers and is one of Canada's oldest industrial cities. Its mid-St-Lawrence location places it firmly within the freezing-rain corridor while also exposing it to Atlantic storm tracks.
Mauricie forecast
Trois-Rivières snow day forecast, what to expect this winter
Trois-Rivières sits at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River and the St. Lawrence River, roughly midway between Montreal and Quebec City. Founded in 1634, it is one of the oldest industrial cities in North America and the historical anchor of the Mauricie region. The city's mid-St-Lawrence position places it directly within the freezing-rain corridor that runs from Cornwall through Montreal, Trois-Rivières, and into the Quebec City region, while its more easterly location also exposes it to storm systems tracking up from the Atlantic. Annual snowfall in the city averages around 280 cm, comfortably higher than Montreal and broadly comparable to Quebec City.
School operations across the Trois-Rivières urban area and the surrounding Mauricie are split between three boards. The Centre de services scolaire du Chemin-du-Roy is the French-language public service centre covering the City of Trois-Rivières and surrounding municipalities. The Centre de services scolaire de l'Énergie covers the more rural and northern parts of the Mauricie around Shawinigan and La Tuque. Central Quebec School Board (CQSB) provides English-language coverage from a base in Quebec City that extends west through Trois-Rivières and the surrounding region. Each board makes its own closure decision, which means a storm can close the French network while CQSB keeps its English schools running, or vice versa.
For Trois-Rivières families, the most useful forecast question is rarely "how much snow will fall" but rather "what phase will the precipitation be in at 6 am". The city sits on the freezing-rain transition zone where an upper-level warm nose can flip an overnight snowfall into ice pellets and freezing rain by morning rush. Our predictor weights overnight temperature profiles, surface inversion strength, and Saint-Maurice valley cold-air drainage rather than relying on a single snowfall threshold, because the freezing-rain forecast is what drives most Mauricie closure decisions.
School boards
Trois-Rivières school boards we model
The boards and transportation operators that make the morning closure call for Trois-Rivières.
- Centre de services scolaire du Chemin-du-Roy
French-language public service centre for the City of Trois-Rivières and surrounding Mauricie municipalities. The primary school authority for the urban area.
- Centre de services scolaire de l'Énergie
French-language service centre covering rural and northern parts of the Mauricie, including Shawinigan and La Tuque. Often closes for rural-road conditions when Chemin-du-Roy stays open.
- Central Quebec School Board (CQSB)
English-language public school board with coverage extending from Quebec City west through Trois-Rivières and the surrounding region. Makes its own independent weather call.
- Catholic and private school networks
Smaller Catholic and private institutions in Trois-Rivières typically follow the Chemin-du-Roy call but are not bound by it; each may announce independently.
Bus transportation
Centre de services scolaire du Chemin-du-Roy contracts its own school bus operators across Trois-Rivières and the surrounding Mauricie. Bus and closure calls are typically made by 6:00 am the morning of, broadcast on local radio and the service centre website. Central Quebec School Board makes its own English-language call for its Trois-Rivières schools, often on a different threshold than the French boards. CSS de l'Énergie operates separate rural routes and can cancel buses for road conditions even when Chemin-du-Roy keeps its city routes running.
Local weather
Trois-Rivières’s signature winter weather patterns
The phenomena that produce most Trois-Rivières snow days.
- St. Lawrence freezing-rain corridor
Trois-Rivières sits squarely within the freezing-rain band that runs along the St. Lawrence valley from Cornwall through Montreal to Quebec City. When warm air aloft overruns the surface cold layer trapped in the valley, snow flips to ice pellets and freezing rain. The mid-St-Lawrence location, including Trois-Rivières and Cap-de-la-Madeleine, sees more freezing rain hours per winter than either Montreal or Quebec City.
- Saint-Maurice River valley cold-air drainage
The Saint-Maurice River cuts south from the Laurentian highlands into the St. Lawrence at Trois-Rivières, channeling cold continental air into the city overnight under clear skies. The drainage strengthens the surface cold layer that supports freezing rain and ice pellets, and produces sharper early-morning temperature minimums in Trois-Rivières than in Montreal at the same latitude.
- Atlantic moisture reaching the mid-St-Lawrence
Storm systems tracking northeast up the U.S. Atlantic seaboard regularly carry moisture far enough inland to reach Trois-Rivières. These storms tend to deliver heavier liquid-equivalent precipitation than Colorado lows that affect Ontario, and when they intersect the freezing-rain corridor they produce the highest-impact ice events.
- Polar air outbreaks
In January and February, polar air masses descend from northern Quebec and Labrador across the Mauricie. Wind chill values of −35 to −40 °C are common during these outbreaks, triggering wind-chill closure thresholds for CSS du Chemin-du-Roy and CSS de l'Énergie even without active precipitation.
- Late-season ice events as the rivers thaw
In March and early April, as the Saint-Maurice and St. Lawrence break up, freezing fog and refreeze events along the river edges produce localized black-ice mornings. These late-season events are an underappreciated source of bus cancellations in Trois-Rivières long after the snowiest months are over.
History
Notable Trois-Rivières snow days in recent winters
Storms and ice events that shaped how Trois-Rivières school boards approach the morning call.
Great Ice Storm
January 5-10, 1998The defining modern ice event for southern Quebec. Five days of freezing rain deposited 70 to 100 mm of ice on Trois-Rivières and the surrounding Mauricie, snapping power lines and trees across the region. Schools were closed for more than a week, and Hydro-Québec restoration in parts of the Mauricie ran into late January.
Mid-March corridor storm
March 8, 2017A powerful low tracking along the St. Lawrence corridor dropped roughly 38 cm of snow on Trois-Rivières with strong easterly winds. Both Chemin-du-Roy and CSS de l'Énergie closed all schools; CQSB followed for its Trois-Rivières schools.
Major Quebec winter storm
January 17, 2022A widespread Quebec storm closed schools across the St. Lawrence valley. Trois-Rivières received around 30 cm of snow with blowing snow reducing visibility, and CSS du Chemin-du-Roy issued an early evening pre-cancellation, unusual in the region.
Storm of the Century
March 4-5, 1971The benchmark Quebec winter storm. Over 40 cm of snow with hurricane-force winds shut down the entire St. Lawrence valley including Trois-Rivières for multiple days. The storm remains the reference point for any major Mauricie winter event.
Pre-Christmas storm
December 23, 2022A major pre-Christmas system delivered heavy snow followed by freezing rain across the mid-St-Lawrence. Trois-Rivières schools closed on the last day before the holiday break, and Highway 40 between Montreal and Quebec City saw widespread closures.
Mauricie ice and wind event
February 13, 2019A mixed-precipitation event coated Trois-Rivières and the surrounding Mauricie with ice followed by strong winds. CSS du Chemin-du-Roy and CSS de l'Énergie both closed, with bus cancellations extending into the following morning as side streets refroze overnight.
FAQ
Trois-Rivières snow day frequently asked questions
The 7 questions Trois-Rivières parents and teachers ask us most.
Will CSS du Chemin-du-Roy close tomorrow?
Type your Trois-Rivières postal code or "Trois-Rivières, Quebec" into the predictor above. Centre de services scolaire du Chemin-du-Roy makes its closure and bus call by 6:00 am the morning of, broadcast on local radio and on the service centre website. Our predictor returns an advance probability based on the overnight snowfall, freezing rain, and wind chill forecast at your exact coordinates.
Will Central Quebec School Board (English) close in Trois-Rivières?
Central Quebec School Board (CQSB) operates English-language schools from a base in Quebec City with coverage extending through Trois-Rivières and the surrounding Mauricie. CQSB makes its own independent weather call, often on a different threshold than the French service centres, and may close its Trois-Rivières schools on days when CSS du Chemin-du-Roy stays open, or vice versa. Both probabilities are reflected in our forecast.
How does Trois-Rivières winter compare to Montreal and Quebec City?
Trois-Rivières sits roughly midway between Montreal and Quebec City along the St. Lawrence. It receives more annual snowfall than Montreal (about 280 cm versus 210 cm) but slightly less than Quebec City. Where Trois-Rivières stands out is freezing rain hours, the mid-St-Lawrence position places it deepest within the freezing-rain corridor, so ice events are proportionally more impactful than in either neighbouring city. Cold-air drainage from the Saint-Maurice valley also produces colder overnight minimums than Montreal.
Will school be cancelled in Cap-de-la-Madeleine or Trois-Rivières-Ouest tomorrow?
Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Trois-Rivières-Ouest, Pointe-du-Lac, and Sainte-Marthe-du-Cap are all sectors of the amalgamated City of Trois-Rivières and fall under Centre de services scolaire du Chemin-du-Roy. A closure call from Chemin-du-Roy applies across the entire urban area. Enter your specific postal code in the predictor to get the forecast for your neighbourhood; we use exact coordinates rather than averaging across the city.
Why is freezing rain such a problem along the mid-St-Lawrence?
The St. Lawrence valley acts as a long, narrow trough that traps cold surface air between the Laurentians to the north and the Appalachians to the south. When a warmer southern air mass overruns this cold layer, the precipitation falls as snow aloft, melts in the warm layer, and refreezes on contact with the cold surface as ice pellets or glaze ice. Trois-Rivières sits at the geometric middle of the corridor, so almost every freezing-rain event that affects southern Quebec touches the city.
Does CSS de l'Énergie rural close with Trois-Rivières?
Not always. Centre de services scolaire de l'Énergie covers the more rural Mauricie around Shawinigan, La Tuque, and the upper Saint-Maurice valley, where road conditions deteriorate faster than in the urbanized Trois-Rivières core. CSS de l'Énergie can cancel buses or close schools for storm and cold-air conditions even when CSS du Chemin-du-Roy keeps its Trois-Rivières routes running. If you are in the upper Mauricie, watch the CSS de l'Énergie announcement specifically.
How did the 1998 ice storm affect Trois-Rivières?
The January 1998 Great Ice Storm deposited 70 to 100 mm of ice on Trois-Rivières and the surrounding Mauricie over five days. Power lines and trees came down across the city, schools closed for more than a week, and parts of the Mauricie remained without electricity into late January. The 1998 event reset closure thresholds across Quebec, and it remains the historical reference point any time freezing rain is forecast for the corridor.
Near Trois-Rivières
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Other Quebec cities our forecast covers — same regional profile, different local weather.
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