Heading home

AP Photo of tornado damage in Springfield, Mass. yesterday.

It was another very busy 24 hours with severe weather, high winds and record heat. Lets start in Montreal where an active cold front dropped temperatures from yesterday's sweltering 29C to today's ridiculously cold for June, plus 12C. In the process the front produced winds in excess of 80km/h toppling some trees across the city and cutting power to 20,000 Quebec homes. That same front produced more severe weather across New England with severe thunderstorms and rare tornadoes in Massachusetts. The storms cut through Springfield with two twisters killing four and injuring over 200 while demolishing homes and businesses. The tornado deaths were the first in the state in 16 years. The National Weather Service has rated the storm at an EF-2 (scale of 0 to 5), the worst in 45 years in Massachusetts.

Meanwhile here in coastal North Carolina my visit is drawing to a close as we slowly head back north. The temperature range while I was here was no lower than 73F and the highest was today at 92F. Today's high of 92 here at Cape Hatteras beat the old record of 89F established all the way back in 1895.