Cool wet week ahead for southern Quebec

A deluge of rain fell quickly on Sunday, with 25 to 50mm (1 to 2 inches) occurring in eastern Ontario (Cornwall shown above), as well as southern Quebec and New England. Most of the rain fell between 11am and midnight.

More rain fell in the last 24 hours in southern Quebec than in the entire month of May. The rain was desperately needed, as most regions were well below normal, with some areas reporting less than 50 percent of the normal precipitation this spring. At Trudeau Airport, 32mm of rain fell, with close to 30mm here on L'Ile Perrot. The rain was quite heavy at times and accompanied by thunder and lightning, especially overnight. In Ottawa, and across eastern Ontario, the weather was much the same, with 36.4mm falling in the nation's capital in less than 12 hours. Ottawa had only received 26.2mm of rain in May. Unfortunately, the rain fell on a busy summer weekend, which included a soggy Tour de L'Ile here in Montreal. The 20,000 cyclists started off the 65 to 100km route in cloudy but dry weather. That quickly changed by mid-morning, as heavy rain arrived from the southwest. The event still concluded as scheduled, with no incidents reported.

This morning, Montreal is mild but damp, with lots of moisture left over. Some sunshine today will help to generate afternoon clouds and perhaps a shower or thunderstorm. Temperatures will be mild, near 24C (76F). Tuesday through Thursday will be quite unsettled, with plenty of clouds and showers, along with much cooler temperatures. After the low 20's on Tuesday, Montreal will only reach 15C (59F) Wednesday and Thursday, before temperatures slowly moderate late in the week. If you don't like the heat, then enjoy this respite from the hot weather, as we expect it to return by the third week of June.

TROPICAL STORM COLIN
The third tropical system of this young 2016 season formed late Sunday in the Gulf of Mexico. Tropical storm Colin was located 580 km (360 miles) west southwest of Tampa, Florida at 5am, with 85 km/h (50 mph) winds. The storm will rapidly move northeast today and reach the coast of Florida, in the Big Bend region, by Monday evening. The biggest threat from Colin will be torrential rains falling on the saturated southeast US. Flooding is likely, especially across the coastal Carolina's, which were impacted by Bonnie last week.