Warm & windy in Montreal

A sad image reminiscent of Hurricane Katrina 7 years ago. Army Corp Engineers cut a path through an earth levee to allow flood waters to drain from Braithwaite, Louisiana on Thursday. Two fatalities were reported in the area from Isaac. (Times-Picayune Photo)

It was a very warm overnight period in Montreal with temperatures staying above 21C (70F) and a very gusty at times strong southwest wind. Winds ahead of a cold front have been in the 40 to 60km/h range across the St. Lawrence Valley, nearly tropical storm force in gusts. It will continue windy today and warm with increasing humidity. Showers are dotting the radar this morning but they are light in nature. A better chance of showers and thunderstorms can be expected this afternoon as the main front crosses the area. Once clear of southern Quebec, we can expect a sunny and seasonable weekend with highs in the mid 20's and chilly overnight lows in the low teens. The fair weather will continue into Labor Day Monday before another front and the moisture from what is left of Isaac move into the region Tuesday. At this time rain is expected, but nothing excessive. I will begin to crunch the numbers on the summer of 2012 as we say goodbye to August. Typical meteorological summer runs from June 1 to August 31. Without looking at any stats, the obvious is true, it was warm and dry.

ISAAC : Speaking of the tropics, Isaac continues to meander as a tropical depression into Arkansas this morning. The remains will cross the Midwest with 3 to 8 inches of rain in the drought plagued region. Meanwhile the first two US fatalities of the storm were reported in a flooded home in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. Flood waters are slowly receding and clean up efforts are well underway.

KIRK & LESLIE : In the open waters of the Atlantic, we have tropical storm Leslie and Hurricane Kirk. Kirk has 105mph winds, but is not threat to land. Computer models have different opinions on the exact track of Tropical Storm Leslie at the moment, so she will bear watching.