Thursday, September 22, 2011

Autumnal Equinox

Equinox is the Latin word for equal nights and that is what we are approaching this week. Fall officially arrives at 5:05am Eastern time on Friday, making today the last day of the summer. Summer was spectacular in southern Quebec with more sun than cloud and lots of warm weekends. We enjoyed much better weather than a big chunk of North America that had everything from severe droughts to floods.

In reality the equal day vs night event will take place for Montreal on Monday, September 26 when the sun rises at 6:47am and sets at 6:46pm giving us 11:59 of daylight. After that it is a slippery slope into darkness where night is longer than day and this continues sadly until spring.

The last day of summer in Montreal is mild with temperatures already at 19C or one degree above the normal of 18C for this date. Temperatures will reach 23C with humid conditions and thunderstorms possible. A cold front to our west over Ontario should bring in the chance for showers and storms through the midday before skies clear out. Of note this morning, the Richelieu River southeast of Montreal that flooded so badly this spring is running very high for September. As a result of the heavy rain falling from Hurricane Irene making its way into Lake Champlain and flowing north, the river is three feet above normal. Officials are watching it closely for possible flooding this fall, but they are especially concerned for next spring.

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