Joyeuses Fetes!

We’re not the only ones. The majority of email we get from readers about Montreal has to do with winter weather. How cold does it get? Is it windy? What should we bring for a December or January trip?

These questions are the hardest to answer, and the best example is the current weather forecast for Montreal:

• Today (Saturday 12/13): cloudy and 7°F
• Tomorrow: light snow, clouds and 37°F
• Monday: rain, windy and 48°F
• Tuesday: sunny and 26°F
• Wednesday: snow or rain and 36°F

And here’s the norm: 28°F during the day and 14°F at night.

You can look at this forecast and get tied up in knots while trying to pack. (We’ve been there.) The weather during your trip could be quite normal. Or your trip could be the outlier: our first holiday there in 2004 was extremely cold and windy; last year, we arrived days after a huge snowstorm (even for Montreal), and all the snow melted in warm weather; we had a couple days with the temperature near 40°F.

Environment Canada generally publishes forecasts for four days out, unlike the National Weather Service and private forecasters in the US, which often give you a week-long snapshot. If your trip is brief, you might be able to pack with some certainty (as far as you can trust the forecast), but if you’re planning a longer trip (8 days for us this time) you need to follow some rules of thumb. Here are ours.

• warm gloves, quality scarf, cap (think cold and wind)
• winter coat: rather than a heavy, long winter coat, we prefer a combo coat and hoodie sweatshirt. Most of the time, you’ll want and need both of them, but for unexpectedly warm days, remove one and wear the other.
• long underwear: your lower extremities will thank you for this.
• socks: we pack a mix of regular winter socks and heavy winter socks
• shoes: we pack a pair of tennis shoes, and a boot of some kind. I have some Timberland boots that are fur-lined and quite warm. I can wear them every day if I need to (most restaurants are casual). Ideally, your shoes will be waterproof; last year, all the melting snow left huge pools of standing water, especially in Old Montreal. It’s no fun being soaked to the skin.
• umbrella: last year was the first year we had rain. The cap you packed will come in handy or you can toss a travel-size umbrella in the suitcase.
• sunglasses: yep, I found these very useful last year.

That’s our list. What did we miss? If you travel to Montreal (or some other cold place) in the winter, what do you take with you?