January was the coldest month in 18 years, so much so that Hydro-Quebec broke three energy consumption records, while CAA-Quebec performed more than 100,000 roadside assistance services in 31 days.
Cold weather is hard on vehicles, and too low a mercury can make it hard to start. The CAA-Quebec has observed this, while for January alone, it carried out 101,753 roadside assistance services.
“It’s been a huge month. We have passed the milestone of 100,000 services rendered. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen that, ”says Andrée-Ann Déry, spokesperson for the organization.
In winter, the organization responds to approximately 2,800 requests for assistance per day, or nearly 85,000 per month.
CAA-Quebec must unveil a more complete report for January on Tuesday.
Three records
At Hydro Québec, three energy consumption records were shattered during the month.
On January 11, an 8-year-old record was broken, with consumption of 39,994 megawatts (MW).
This new record was broken on January 21, 2022, with 40,380 MW used.
Less than a week later, on January 27, a new peak was reached with 40,510 MW consumed.
“It was indeed a very cold month, we too, we saw it in our figures,” said Maxence Huard Lefebvre, spokesperson for Hydro Quebec.
The state corporation will also do a more comprehensive analysis of the impact of January’s cold weather on consumption in the coming weeks.
- Listen to Mario Dumont’s interview with André Cantin of Environment Canada:
Coldest since 2004
These figures are not unrelated to the fact that Environment Canada has announced that we have just experienced the coldest January in a long time.
“It’s the coldest January in 18 years for all of southern Quebec. We hadn’t seen that since 2004,” says André Cantin, meteorologist at Environment Canada.
After a mild end to December, Mother Nature did not give the citizens of Quebec any favors, while for 17 days – out of the 31 in January – the mercury was colder than average.
The most painful day was January 22, with a mercury of -36.7°C.
According to the meteorologist, there are usually one to two days that drop below -30° in January.
“This year, we had eight days with a mercury below -30° and one day at -29°”, specifies Mr. Cantin.
In January, seasonal normals fluctuate around -12.8°. The average in January 2022 was -16.8°.
“It’s a kind of forced natural confinement,” says Mr. Cantin with humor.