Residents in most parts of the Eastern Townships woke up to the first snow storm of the year. Arriving as a shock, some residents were caught off guard. The past weeks forecasts have brought everything from warm and sunny days with highs of twenty degrees to frosty nights dropping below the freezing point. However, this funny weather pattern began last night with regions in the townships receiving a bout of hail, which is extremely uncommon. To add to this weather pattern later in the week residents are told to expect temperatures reaching sixteen degrees.

With an unexpected snowstorm many people were not prepared with their winter tires.

“I actually had my winter tires on early this season…but I was actually expecting warm weather today,” stated Kelsey Renault.

The province of Quebec allows snow tires to be installed on cars from Oct. 15 to the end of March. But they are only mandatory from Dec. 1 to March 15. In addition, studded tires are very popular among residents residing in the countryside but are not legal until Nov. Today was the first official day all tires are legal on the roads, and just happens to also be the first official snow storm of the season.

“My commute was about an hour instead of the usual thirty minutes, but at least everyone was being cautious and careful,” said Monsieur Renault.

Today will likely cause an overload on garage phonelines scheduling tire changing appointments with some lucky residents picking a date when they can both get their winter tires installed and wear shorts.