October weather set to return to Montreal this week

Summer in October. Hazy sunshine along the banks of the St. Lawrence River on Sunday afternoon, as temperatures soared into the 20s. Low water levels have created a new beach on Ile Perrot. Thankfully rain is forecast this week. (Valley Weather Photo)

Much needed rainfall and cooler weather on the way for southern Quebec this week.

The summery, fall weather was nice while it lasted, but the end is just a few hours away. Rain is on our doorstep Monday morning as low pressure moves north of Montreal trailing a slow moving, potent cold front behind it. That will establish a pattern change, at least for the week ahead and perhaps beyond.

Our weather has been unseasonably warm and dry, the warmest coming on Sunday, when the mercury hit 22.3C (73F) at Trudeau Airport. That was well-above the normal high for mid-October of 11C (52F), and just shy of the record high for the date of 24.7C (76F) set in 2007 Saint Anicet and Cornwall, Ontario were the warmest locations in the country Sunday, approaching a remarkable 28C (83F). 

Strong southerly winds gusted as high as 70km/h across the region. This combined with low relative humidity values and our ongoing drought, resulted in several wildfires igniting. One such fire burned 4.5 hectares near Chemin Lac St-Louis in the South Shore community of Lery. I watched from Pointe-du-Moulin on Ile Perrot as a provincial water bomber doused the fire, bringing it quickly under control, with the help of firefighters on the ground.

A Canadair CL-415 Super Scooper prepares to drop water on a wildfire burning near Lery on the South Shore Sunday afternoon. Tinder dry conditions, warm temperatures and strong winds helped spread the fire over at least 4.5 hectares. Other fires were reported in eastern Ontario and upstate New York. (CTV NEWS/Corey Wilson)

The tinder dry conditions also sparked other fires around eastern Ontario, upstate New York and southwestern Quebec. Burn bans have been in place for several weeks now, but despite this, most of the fires so far this year have been caused by campfires or open burning of debris and vegetation.

I was amazed by how low the water level is on the Saint Lawrence River, despite the release of water this weekend from the Moses-Saunders Dam near Cornwall on Saturday. We now have a beach on Ile Perrot, beautiful fpr a Sunday afternoon walk, but water levels are too low.

RAIN... FINALLY!

The good news is we have a much cooler and moist airmass on the way for this week. Rain and thunderstorms are forecast fro Monday, with as much as 25mm expected. The showery weather will persist all week, as an upper level low settles over the region. We may have 25-50mm of rain by Friday, easily surpassing the total so far this moth, that is stuck at 22.4mm for Montreal. 

This will be real October weather for a change, as temperatures settle back down into the low teens for highs and around 4C (39F) for lows by midweek. The cooler, damp weather will persist into next weekend, with even the risk of a few snowflakes over the higher elevations north and southeast of the city by Thursday into Friday.