City of Montreal to send out graders, salt trucks as deep freeze sets in

After two days of mild weather and rain this week, the City of Montreal says that gradersand salt trucks will be out on the roads as all that melted snow and rain freezes over.

In the last 48 hours, temperatures rose to as high as 5 C, causing precipitation to fall as rain.

• Strong winds rip bricks, window pane from Montreal buildings

This morning, Montrealers woke up to sub-zero temperatures, and the mercury is expected to dropas low as -20 C by tonight.

"There are small accumulations of water in places that, without any intervention, will turn into sheets of ice at the arrival of the cold front. Therefore, the boroughs are currently conducting de-icing operations on sumps to ensure the proper drainage of the pavements," city spokesman Philippe Sabourin said.

During a typical de-icing operation, the city deploys 172 graders for the roads and 188 abrasive-distribution vehiclesfor its sidewalks.

Every winter, a total of about 150,000 tonnes of abrasive mixture is used.

The city said that the first places to see the abrasive salt mixtures will be:

• Major arteries (ex. Sherbrooke,Lacordaire or Henri-Bourassa.)
• Major streets on bus routes.
• Reserved bus lanes.
• Hospital entrances.
• Very narrow streets.

Currently, seven boroughs are also carrying out partial snow-removal operations using plowsand snow blowers. They are:

• Anjou.
• Cte-des-NeigesNotre-Dame-de-Grce.
• Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve.
• Saint-Laurent.
• Sud-Ouest.
• Montreal North.
• Saint-Leonard.

Sabourin said getting rid of snow accumulation shouldprevent ice from forming.

"These operations should be completed at the latest on the night of Friday to Saturday, before the return of the cold," he said.

Weather forecast

CBC's weather specialist Frank Cavallaro says the temperature will keep falling throughout the day Friday, until the mercury drops to about -20 C overnight.It will remaincold Saturday.

• Today: Breezy, mainly sunny. High falls to -11 C.
• Tonight: Clear and cold. Low near -20 C.
• Saturday: Mostly sunny, cold. High near -12 C.
• Sunday: Sunny skies.High near -6 C.
• Monday: More sun.High near -3 C.
• Tuesday: Partly sunny.High near 0 C.