Monday, May 31, 2010

Smoky morning

Smoke reduces visibility over Montreal this morning. (CBC photo)

Vacation is over! It was a great two weeks in North Carolina but all good things must come to an end and reality settle in. When I arrived home yesterday, I was amazed to see how much grass can grow over a two week period. Equally amazing was how dry the soil was. I was pushing more dust around the neighborhood than grass clippings. Montreal has received only 38mm of rain this month, with most of that falling before the 15th.

That brings me to this morning. I had our windows open last night and thought our house was on fire at about 3am this morning. During the overnight, the wind shifted out of the northeast ahead of a warm front and brought smoke from the forest fires north of Montreal into the city. The thick haze is covering the city this morning with a distinct smell of burning forest in the air. These conditions will prevail most of the day with a shift in wind cleaning the air out slightly this afternoon. Nearly 55 fires are burning in the province with 8 out of control. About 1,200 firefighters, including some from Maine, New Brunswick, New Hampshire and Western Canada, are working to put the fires out.

1 comment:

Bridget said...

The smoke has reached us in Kemptville, Ontario this morning as well. When I woke up I thought my husband had started another (accidental) fire somehow.