Precipitation
Quebec benefits from abundant precipitation, which varies widely across the province. The broad corridor along the St. Lawrence Valley receives the largest amounts of rain, with accumulations exceeding 1000 mm/year. Nunavik, however, receives half of that quantity, about 500 mm/year.
Climate change will greatly alter the average and extreme amounts of precipitation as well as its frequency. This will inevitably have repercussions on the extent and frequency of floods and droughts and will impact the built environment, hydroelectricity production, urban drainage and various uses of water if adaptation actions are not taken.
This means that using past climate data to plan long-term precipitation management is no longer appropriate. The use of climate projections has clearly become a necessity.
List of remarkable Quebec climate events
The Quebec climate archives, maintained by the Ministère de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques de la Faune et des Parcs, date back to 1870 and make it possible to identify the province’s significant climatic events. Since 2013, the ministry has published key climate events on a monthly and annual basis. These events cover phenomena related to temperature, precipitation, snow cover, storms, etc. In recent years, records have often been reached or exceeded, especially for average precipitation and extreme precipitation events.
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The Ouranos Climate Portraits offer interactive graphic representations of the changes in temperatures and thermal indices projected throughout Quebec on an annual and seasonal basis. You can view and download maps, figures and tables for all of Quebec or by administrative region.
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The website ClimateData.ca provides access to indices and offers the possibility of setting personalized thresholds to meet specific needs.
