Harvest Moon

The full harvest moon illuminates a John Deere combine on a farm on the prairies. AP Photo

Clouds and a few showers are dotting the area this morning as a very mild and moist southwest flow of air is over the region. A cold front to our west will enhance the showers with perhaps a rumble of thunder by late in the day today through about midnight. Skies should then clear out slowly for a partly cloudy, but much cooler day on Thursday. High temperatures should be mild today as we are already at 14C. Look for highs in the St. Lawrence Valley and eastern Ontario to be in the 20C (68F) range once again. Temperatures will drop quickly behind the cold front down to 6C (43F) overnight tonight and remain chilly Thursday up to 15C (59F). Under clear skies Thursday night, lots of frost should occur away from the rivers and lakes with lows near the freezing point with the exception of metro Montreal around 3 or 4C.

HARVEST MOON
This weekend we have the spectacular large, full and most times orange Harvest Moon. The full moon will be in the sky around 11:18pm Saturday night in Montreal. The Harvest Moon is the full moon closest to the Autumnal Equinox which occurred last weekend. When I was living in Saskatchewan it was a busy time of year with harvest in full swing. Combines would often hum late into the night under the bright, almost daylight at times produced by the full moon. It was a rather beautiful, peaceful scene to see a combine harvesting a field of wheat with the large orange moon lighting the landscape. This year excellent weather in the southern Prairies has allowed the harvest to be well ahead of schedule. According to Saskatchewan Agriculture, almost 74 per cent of the crop has already been harvested. Nevertheless farmers are busy harvesting, hauling bales, seeding winter cereals and controlling weeds and will welcome the extra light at a time when daylight is dwindling. This is true for farmers right across the country who are beyond busy in September and October securing their crops as well as preparing their farms and animals for the long winter ahead.