Welcome to Meteorological Summer

A North Carolina Department of Transportation dump truck was swept into flood waters on Thursday in the western part of the state. Widespread flooding has claimed 5 lives from Georgia to the Carolina's after the remains of tropical storm Alberto moved north with torrential rain and flash flooding. (NCDOT Photo)

Thursday was the warmest day of 2018 in Montreal, reaching 30.2C (86F) at Trudeau Airport. So far this morning, the low temperature has remained above 21C (70F), which would be a new record for the warmest low, the previous was 19.1C in 2013. The weather is right on schedule, as June 1st is the official start of meteorological summer. Basically, and really summarized here, we are looking at a warm and muggy summer in southern Quebec, with near to slightly above normal precipitation and temperatures. So basically nothing to see here, just a regular summer in Montreal.

Our current warm and humid air mass is courtesy of the remains of tropical storm Alberto. June 1st is also the start of Atlantic hurricane season. Alberto jumped the queue a little, arriving last Monday along the Florida Gulf Coast. The system generated minimal impacts along the coastal regions, but has become a big flash flood and thunderstorm producer through the Appalachians into the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley. The broad circulation of what is left of Alberto, is currently moving into central Ontario. East of the low, warm and humid air is being pumped northward into southern Quebec. Friday will see the end of this stretch of warm weather, as a cold front arrives late in the day. Accompanying the front will be thunderstorms, some strong with heavy rain and gusty winds. The high in Montreal will be a muggy 27C (81F) on Friday.

The weekend looks perfect in Montreal, with sunshine and mild temperatures. Expect highs near 23C (73F) and cool overnight lows near 10C (50F). The start of next week will not be great. A cool, moist air mass from Atlantic Canada will prevail through Wednesday, with well below normal temperatures, clouds and showers.