Montreal's summer weather in one word, unsettled

Damage in Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce from a confirmed EF-1 tornado on Saturday, August 5. (Radio Canada Photo)

If there is a word I have overused this summer, it is unsettled. I don't know how else to describe the days where we have sunshine, clouds and the ever present risk of showers or thunderstorms. There have been many. Since May 1st, Montreal's Trudeau Airport has recorded precipitation of a trace or more, on 65 of 100 days through August 8. On many of the other days, the weather has been overcast and cool, not exactly a summer of champions. Some like the cool weather, I don't. Our summers are too short to begin with, I like them to be warm.

This past weekend was just terrible, more clouds than sun, breezy, cold and at times wet. This followed a very stormy Friday, that had rounds of strong thunderstorms impacting southern Quebec. The wind gusted close to 80km/h at Trudeau Airport along with heavy rain. There were numerous reports in the city of downed trees. Some locations such a Napierville and St Constant reported major flooding as more than 100mm (4 inches) of rain fell on Friday alone. A sate of emergency was declared in Napierville. Thousands were also left without power. On Saturday, more strong storms occurred in Quebec, this time east of Montreal. Environment Canada confirmed the provinces fifth tornado of the season, and EF-1, capable of winds up to 170km/h. The storm struck Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce, south of Quebec City. Widespread damage was reported to trees and homes, along with power outages.

The forecast for the balance of the week into the upcoming weekend does not look great. Following the trend well established this summer, expect unsettled weather at best. Tuesday and Wednesday will be the best days of the week, with more sunshine than clouds and mild highs near 27C (81F). The rest of the week into the weekend will be partly cloudy and humid, with numerous showers and isolated thunderstorms. The best chance for rain will be in the afternoon each day. This trend will last well into next week, with temperatures close to normal. The normal high is 26C (79F) and low 15C (59F).

Solar Eclipse
Expect a rare celestial treat for North Americans on Monday, August 21. A solar eclipse will be visible across a large portion of Canada and the US. I will post details on the timing of the partial eclipse here in Montreal, later this week.