Strong winds cut power to thousands of Quebec homes

Winds gusted over 70km/h in southern Quebec on Sunday, splintering numerous tree branches, and cutting power to over 25,000 homes and businesses in the province.

Very warm air poured into southern Quebec on Sunday, driven by winds of 60 to 80km/h. A peak gust of 69km/h was observed at Trudeau Airport and 72km/h at St Hubert Airport on the South Shore. The wind played havoc with tree branches all day long, either breaking them completely, or knocking them into power lines. One branch fell on a ticket booth at the Canadian Grand Prix. No injuries were reported. Hydro Quebec reported outages to nearly 25,000 homes and business across the southern portion of the province, with 12,000 alone in metro Montreal. Crews have been working throughout the night, and as of 3:00pm Monday, 6425 customers remain without power. The winds remain gusty today, in the 30 to 50km/h range. Strong wind warnings have been posted for marine interest on the Seaway.

As far as temperatures go, Montreal managed 30C (85F), while the mercury soared to a record 33C (91F) in Quebec City. Other locations ranged from 29C to 32C (85 to 90F). In Burlington, Vermont, a record high of 34C (95F) occurred on Sunday, the warmest day ever this early in the season. The weather is even warmer on Monday in southern Quebec, with Montreal at 31C (88F) as of 2pm.

Thunderstorms developed across western Quebec in the sultry air early Monday morning, passing just to the north of Montreal. More showers and thunderstorms are likely this evening, before cooler and drier air arrives for Tuesday through Thursday. Temperatures will fall back to more normal values of 22C to 25C (72 to 77F). Overnight lows will be much more comfortable than the 21C (70F) recorded Sunday night in Montreal, near 13C (55F).

Strong thunderstorms produced deep hail across central Minnesota early Sunday morning. Above: snow plows were used to clear roads in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. (Weather Nation Photo)

Montreal was not the only location in the warm and humid air mass this weekend. Most of the eastern seaboard westward into the Great Lakes and across the northern plains were well above normal. Strong thunderstorms swept across the upper Midwest early Sunday morning. Those storms produced widespread damage in Minnesota, the Dakotas and Wisconsin. Winds in excess of 120km/h hit portions of central Minnesota, along with hail measured in feet.