Unless the city is blessed with a rare Indian summer extending beyond September, Montreal is in full fall mode come October. Crisp, cool but fairly comfortable, it's not uncommon to experience a snowfall at this time. But chances are it's a light one where flakes don't stay put on the ground for more than a few minutes or hours, melting away by day's end.
- Average October temperature: 9.2ºC / 49ºF
- Average October high (day): 12.3ºC / 54ºF
- Average October low (night): 5.9ºC / 43ºF
- Record high: 28.9ºC / 84ºF
- Record low: -7.2ºC / 19ºF
- Precipitation**: anticipate 6 days of rain in October and 13 days involving light showers. One day of snow flurries a possibility.
- Consult Today's Montreal Weather Forecast
For comfort's sake, October in Montreal is all about layers, particularly if out and about from day to night. Indian summer days are a possibility and an afternoon in the sun can be comfortable with only a shirt and blazer or windbreaker but a light jacket with scarf may be necessary when temperatures dip below 10ºC (50ºF), usually by sundown.
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Visiting Montreal in October? Pack:
- long sleeved shirts, sweaters, short-sleeved and sleeveless shirts to be layered with cardigans, fleece and outerwear
- cardigans, fleece, wraps, jackets, blazers, windbreakers, trench coats, down vests
- long pants, jeans, skirts/dresses with tights, leggings (save freak warm spells, it's a little too cool to comfortably bare legs)
- light scarf, gloves
- closed toe shoes, boots (insulated boots not necessary yet)
- sunglasses and sunscreen are a must year round
- umbrella and/or raincoat
*Source: Environment Canada. Average temperatures, extremes and precipitation data retrieved September 14, 2010. All information is subject to quality assurance checks by Environment Canada and may change without notice. Note that all weather statistics as presented above are averages compiled from weather data collected over a 30-year period.
**Note that light showers, rain and/or snow may overlap on the same day. For example, if Month X features an average of 10 days of light showers, 10 days of heavier rain and 10 days of snowfall, that does not mean that 30 days of Month X are typically characterized by precipitation. It could mean that, on average, 10 days of Month X may feature light showers, rain and snow within a 24-hour period.
