Earth Hour 2015 - quiet weather weekend

The 2015 edition of Earth Hour is upon us this Saturday, March 28th. The event, organized by the World Wildlife Federation, was first held as a "lights off" event in Sydney, Australia in 2007. Since then Earth Hour has grown to include over 7000 towns and cities around the world including many in southern Quebec. The idea behind the event is to raise awareness to the fragility of the planet. For one hour between 8:30 and 9:30pm local time where you live, you are asked to turn off all non-essential lights as a symbol of your commitment to the planet. Outside of the 1 hour, there are many more ways you can help all year long. For more information visit www.earthhour.org. Earth Hour is held in late March to coincide with the changing of the seasons in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

Weekend Weather
The forecast for the upcoming few days in Montreal looks rather tranquil. Clouds and flurries today will linger into the overnight across southern Quebec with perhaps a dusting to 1cm in places. Temperatures will remain below normal for the weekend with highs at the freezing point Saturday, and cold overnight lows around -10C (14F). On Sunday high pressure will briefly clear skies out for a sunny day with the mercury responding and reaching 4C (39F). By Monday another cold front and weak area of low pressure will produce showers or flurries with a high of 7C (45F).

Tornado on March 25, west of Tulsa, Oklahoma. (Twitter Photo @TwistedSkyMedia)

Tornadoes
March had been a record quiet month for severe weather across the US. As a matter of fact the extreme cold this winter had limited severe thunderstorm development this year with no tornado fatalities reported through March 25. That all changed Thursday as several storms swept across the southern plains including Oklahoma with large hail, strong winds and tornadoes. Once again Moore, Oklahoma was hard hit with widespread damage in several neighborhoods. Two fatalities were reported in Oklahoma with the Moore tornado estimated to be an EF-2 by the National Weather Service.