Warm start to fall

The pumpkins are ready! A sign of the seasons at this IGA store on the West Island.

It is already 20C (humidex 26C) this morning in Montreal on the way to 23C. That is well above the normal daytime high of 18C and it is only 8am. Fall arrived yesterday at 5:18pm and there are some signs that the seasons are changing. The leaves are slowly turning, some areas have had frost, and the likelihood of a hard frost or even a freeze exists into next week as much colder air is forecast to invade the region by Tuesday.

Yesterday's showers dropped about 10.4mm on Montreal as tropical air and moisture was in place. That brings our monthly total to 14.6mm, or less than half of the normal precipitation. We should get some more decent showers today as a cold front is just north of the Ottawa Valley this morning. Radar is showing some heavy showers and embedded thunder moving south towards the St. Lawrence River.

Today marks the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Hugo striking the South Carolina coast and racing north down the St. Lawrence Valley and through Montreal. Heavy rain fell north of the city, while south of the system in Montreal high winds and very warm and muggy air was in place. We reached 29C and only dropped to the low twenties overnight. Winds gusted to 70km/h in the valley knocking down trees and cutting power. I was working for the Gazette at the time driving at night. It was interesting night working, seeing first hand some of the power of this fast moving storm. Hugo maintained tropical storm status well inland. I have never seen clouds moving so fast before or since Hugo. The storm caused billions in damage and killed 49 people along its path.