Heavy Rain along the 401 at Brockville on Saturday

Deja Vu

We remain in a very moist and unstable air mass this morning with temperatures approaching 25C and Relative Humidity's in the 70 and 80 percent range. It very steamy and the risk of thunderstorms is very real across Ontario, Quebec and the northern US. A severe thunderstorm watch is in effect for Kemptville and Eastern Ontario, while a flash flood watch has been posted for Eastern New York and Northern Vermont. There is a serious threat that some of these storms will produce heavy flooding rains. The potential exists for more than 25mm in an hour.

Yesterday another 15mm of rain fell in Kempville as our wet June moves on. Overnight a line of fierce thunderstorms moved through Kemptville and other parts of the region. The lightning cut power in places and triggered some fire alarms. KFD was called out to South Branch Elementary around 2:30am where they encountered broken windows. I am not clear if it was storm related, at this time, but the OPP were called as well. Edwardsburg-Cardinal firefighters were called to a potential fire in Cardinal. Again it may be weather related. The lightning was intense and frequent with these storms. More are expected today.

Heavy rain and thunderstorms

A battle between very warm and moist air from the US and cooler marine air from the lower St. Lawrence and Atlantic Ocean will sadly take place this weekend in Ontario and Quebec. Heavy rain is on our doorstep with embedded thunderstorms along a warm front. There is even the risk of hail and strong winds as well this afternoon. The threat for heavy rain and thunderstorms will persist right into Monday. This will be one of the most soggy June's we have had in Kemptville. As mentioned earlier 133mm and counting.

There are big events on this weekend such as Celebration 50 in Cornwall and the Seaway (The 50th anniversary of the flooding of the Seaway and lost villages) and Riverfest in Brockville. I wish I had better news.

Hydro One crews at the Kemptville Mall this morning

Storms sweep region

A series of severe thunderstorms swept the region yesterday mainly north and west of Kemptville. The hardest hit areas were south of Arnprior towards Calabogie and south into Smiths Falls. Another band of storms swept across Ottawa and Gatineau. Hail and flooding was reported along with wind damage. Thousands of customers remain without power this morning. Hydro One crews were staging in the Kemptville Mall parking lot this morning with at least two dozen trucks on hand. Power is expected to be restored to everyone by the end of the day baring any new storms.

The threat is very real for more severe weather. Dense fog this morning is an indication of just how moist and unstable the air mass is. As the sun begins to warm that moist air - storms will develop again by late in the day. Kemptville had another 5.6mm of rain yesterday to bring our soggy monthly total to 132mm closing in on double the normal, which we should reach by months end. Further south in St. Lawrence County, NY the storm prompted a flood advisory as more than 75mm rain fell just yesterday afternoon, causing water to pond and wash over roads.

A break between stroms in Kemptville yesterday

Bottom: My VW...if only I had the $money$. Top: The Thousand Islands Bridge at Hill Island in the misty rain along the warm front this morning.

Severe Thunderstorm Watch - Ottawa and the Valley

I went for my annual drive today down the Thousand Islands Parkway to deliver our Tourism Guides this morning and collect some new photos for next year. The weather was typical of this June. A misty rain fell for most of the morning. We are now in the warm and humid air south of the warm front with temperatures close to 27C in most areas. The risk of thunderstorms is on the increase this afternoon. In fact numerous cells are beginning to pop up on radar along and south of the Ottawa River. A severe thunderstorm watch has been posted for Ottawa and the Valley for the potential that some of these storms may become severe with hail and dangerous wind and lightning. Pay close attention for a warning which would appear on the left side of the page in red.

A little warmer....and changes to the Blog

A warmer and more humid air mass has moved into Kemptville and the Seaway Valley today. Expect temperatures to rise to near 30C in many regions, with the risk of some showers or even a thunderstorm into tonight. The risk for thunderstorms will be higher on Thursday afternoon. At this time severe weather is unlikely but you never know, it is summer.

I have made a few changes on the Blog and will continue to make more in an effort to improve the site. I am approaching 8600 hits and want to thank everyone for reading. I enjoy the weather so much and having an audience to share my passion with is awesome. There is a new Blog List down the side as well as my Photo Album of weather and other pictures, and a link to YouTube weather videos. Enjoy and thanks again...

Valley Weather Photos: Roadblocks were set up quickly after the Scotia Bank in Kemptville was robbed this morning.

Scotia Bank robbed in Kemptville...

Details are still sketchy but the Scotia Bank on Presott St in Kemptville was robbed this morning at around 9:30. OPP were quick to respond and set up roadblocks but failed to make any arrests at this time. Detectives are on the scene and the investigation continues.

HEAVY RAIN

Heavy rain fell yesterday in Kemptville. 35.2 mm fell in just a few hours, bringing the monthly total to over 126mm well above the normal of 77mm for June.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING...

This was issued by Environment Canada just a few minutes ago. Heavy thunderstorms have been training across the Kemptville area for the last hour. The main threat in our region has been heavy rain and dangerous lightning. Several of the storms have exhibited rotation, but no funnel clouds have been reported. Be safe.....updates will follow and warnings and radar are available down the left side of the page.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING ISSUED For Kemptville BY ENVIRONMENT CANADA BULLETIN ISSUED AT: 2:56 PM EDT MONDAY 23 JUNE 2008 AT 2:40 PM RADAR SHOWS STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER PORTIONS OF THE ABOVE REGIONS. THE STORMS ARE MOVING EASTWARD OR SOUTHEASTWARD AT 30 KM/H AND HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE LARGE HAIL AS WELL AS TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS. SEVERAL LOCALES HAVE REPORTED FUNNEL CLOUDS INCLUDING TORONTO WINDSOR LEAMINGTON AND ESSEX. A WEAK TORNADO IS POSSIBLE FROM THESE STORMS HOWEVER THE MAIN THREAT IS LARGE HAIL VERY HEAVY RAINFALL LOCALIZED STRONG WINDS AND INTENSE CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING.

More severe weather on tap

The atmosphere is very unstable in Kemptville and eastern Ontario at this hour. Rain has been falling most of the overnight and morning and now the sun is breaking through. We can expect thunderstorms to develop early this afternoon from south to north in the warm, humid air. Some of these storms will become severe, with hail possible. Yesterday a funnel cloud was spotted by the OPP near London prompting Environment Canada to issue tornado warnings for the region. A severe thunderstorm watch is in effect at this time for most of southern and eastern Ontario. I expect these will be expanded to include the Ottawa Valley and southern Quebec shortly.

Above: Heavy showers moved through the

area before and during the accident. (click pic for greater detail)

Below: Air Ambulance arrives on County Road 43. Photos: C Hofley

First Day of Summer
It is here, arguably the best day of the year. Summer arrives at 7:59pm tonight here in the east. I love summer! I love heat and humidity and thunderstorms. As a kid it was winter, but once I started driving I began to hate the snow, later the cold, and now I just loath winter. Give me sunshine, beaches, bicycles and more. I will take 30C over -10C any day.

Sadly the weather has had a tough go of it this week. We had more heavy rain yesterday in Kemptville. Over one inch of rain (25mm) fell bringing the monthly total up and over 90mm. It has been wet. There are no signs of it drying out in the near future. The air mass remains unstable, and we can expect more showers and thunderstorms by this afternoon once again, and each afternoon through Monday.

The heavy rain may have played a roll in a very serious accident in Kemptville yesterday at the dangerous intersection of County Road 43 and Sommerville Road. The 4:20 pm collision involved as many as four vehicles with several people being transported to hospital, one by air ambulance. KFD and OPP along with Leeds and Grenville Paramedics responded to the scene. Our reporter Chris Hofley also was on site and snapped some great shots including the two above.

Rain rain go away...

We have been dealing with a pesky low pressure system in the upper atmosphere since Monday here in eastern Ontario. The storm system is slowly spinning its way westward towards the Ottawa Valley. In most circumstances this area of low pressure would have been long gone by now, but with very little in the way of steering and movement aloft, the low pressure area is hanging around and even retrograding, (a fancy way of saying it is moving the wrong way). The low pressure has resulted in numerous days of heavy showers and embedded thunderstorms. The cold nature of the low pressure area has kept temperatures down, and even produced small hail in many of the storms. Kemptville has received 66mm of rain so far this month, as of 2am this morning, with half of that in the last 4 days. Expect rain today, all day long, and a risk of showers right through the weekend. It will slowly warming to 23 or 24C by Sunday. The weekend will not be a wash out with some sunny breaks occurring.

While annoying, it is a far cry from the pounding storms and rain that have flooded the Midwest US. The flood of 2008 is heading south down the Mississippi River, flooding thousands of acres of farmland and homes and eclipsing the high water marks set by the "once in a lifetime flood of 1993" Time to rename that event I would say....

Warning: Non weather rant...


Celtics champs again!

What can you say, it seemed like destiny on this mid June night. The Boston Celtics crushed the LA Lakers 131-92 in game six of the best of seven series. So on June 17th, the Celtics claimed there 17th NBA Championship 4-2. It brought back memories of the 1986 win, when I was so much younger. After being at the bottom of the league last year with only 24 wins they improved to 66-16 this season and captured the title. It has been a long time and was sweet to watch!

Pictures and more at http://www.nba.com/celtics/

Severe Thunderstorm Watch and Warning

Environment Canada has posted a Severe Thunderstorm Watch for all of Eastern and Southern Ontario including Kemptville, into this evening. Embedded in the watch area are Severe Thunderstorm Warnings for Sharbot Lake northeast towards Renfrew and Arnprior. These storms are quite intense on radar and slipping east and northeast. They will affect many of the same areas that were hit yesterday. A glance at radar is showing particularly strong returns, so look for heavy rain, dangerous lightning, high winds, and even hail.

A ship slowly heads westbound in the Seaway at Mariatown - with new camera!

Summer storms hit Ottawa

A great birthday gift - a new camera

It was the tale of two weather worlds yesterday. If you were north of a line from Kingston to Alexandria, Ontario, you had heavy afternoon thunderstorms. South of that line including Kemptville it was a pleasant, warm and humid 27C day. Ottawa and the valley were hit with heavy storms that cut power dropped hail and even set a home on fire from a lightning strike in Ottawa south. The ensuing fire destroyed the home and injured three firefighters.

South of the line in the Seaway it was a spectacular day. I was fortunate enough to spend the afternoon with my new Canon snapping photos. I was looking for thunderstorms but settled on ships and scenery. It was a great birthday gift and an fun way to spend a relaxing fathers day. (my daughter was visiting her papa).

Now it is back to reality on this Monday, and more showers and storms. Today will be the last in the series of muggy days reaching 25C with thunderstorms this afternoon. Some storms will be severe again with hail and gusty winds. The balance of the week will be showery and cool as we come under the influence of an upper level low that slowly moves across the region. It is the same storm that produced the heavy rains on the prairies and the devastating Midwest US floods. Don't look for the same amount of rain here.

Below: Flooding in Cedar Rapids Iowa - Above is the terrible flooding in southern Wisconsin.

Thunderstorms on the way

Heavy thunderstorms have spread into extreme southwestern Ontario tonight and continue to move very slowly north and east. It has been a very warm and muggy day in Ontario with temperatures in the upper twenties. Expect some of these storms to produce very heavy rains, in excess of 50mm in a very short period of time in some cases as they move into eastern Ontario and Kemptville overnight and Saturday. The storms have had a history of flooding across the US Midwest and Great Lakes.

Speaking of this area it has been an incredible year so far regarding flooding. Many areas have a had a years worth of rain in less than a month. Some places are approaching 20 inches of rain since the start of June. The severe flooding has pushed some rivers to record values, even higher than the floods of 1993. In Cedar Rapids, Iowa the record flood of the Cedar River of 20 feet set in 1929, has been smashed as the height of the river settled just under 32 feet today. More storms are occurring at this hour adding to the death toll and the damage.

Accident closes 401 at Iroquois

Despite the sunny and pleasant weather today a fatal accident has closed the eastbound lanes of the 401 at Iroquois. The accident occurred at the Morrisburg exit when a pick up pulling a fifth wheel ran into the back of a transport killing the driver of the pick up. OPP accident investigation teams are on site and the road is closed for the time being. detours down to County Road 2 are in place.

Cooler and dryer today...

While a pop up shower or storm cannot be ruled out today, the risk of severe weather is over. Yesterday the Kemptville area was spared any thunderstorms. The same can't be said for Cornwall, Glengarry, Massena and Malone, New York as well as Montreal. Those areas were hit hard by a fast moving line of severe thunderstorms from 12-3pm yesterday. The result was heavy wind damage, including 7 tractor trailers tipped over on Montreal's Champlain Bridge along with over 200,000 residents without power. Numerous roofs were torn from buildings and trees crushed cars. Environment Canada has a team on the ground today investigating the damage to confirm if a tornado occurred. Here are a couple of additional pictures of the damage, courtesy The Montreal Gazette.

A truck on its side on the Champlain Bridge in Montreal during today's thunderstorm

Montreal hammered by thunderstorms

The first band of storms today had hammered Montreal. Trees and power lines were toppled as 110km/h winds pounded the city. Trudeau Airport had a ground stop and golf ball size hail fell near Beloil on the south shore. Close to 70,000 people are without power. The biggest impact has been the closure of the Champlain Bridge in both directions after several trucks were toppled onto their sides, nearly off the bridge. A Severe Thunderstorm watch remains posted for all regions till sunset tonight. More storms are firing up to our west.

2:07pm UPDATE

A line of severe thunderstorms currently stretching from Cornwal north is expected to pass over Montreal in the next hour. These storms have a history of severe weather including wind damage and hail. In upstate New York gusts to near 60mph were reported with damage. There is even the risk of a tornado in southern Quebec.

http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/warnings/report_e.html?qc67

In Ontario the first line is well east of our region. A second line of thunderstorms along the cold front is expected to develop soon. A Watch remains in effect for Kemptville, Ottawa and the Seaway.

Click Here: TORNADO WATCH: for upstate New York including Ogdensburg posted until 6pm.

Click Here: SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH: for all of Leeds/Grenville, Lanark, Ottawa, Stormount, Dundas and Glengarry.

Moderate Risk of Severe Weather

Kemptville, Eastern Ontario and Upstate New York are in a moderate zone for severe thunderstorms today. The storms will fire up in the very hot and humid air mass in place in our regions. It is currently 22C in Kemptville, (28C in my apartment, oh my!) with a humidex over 30C. A cold front will trigger the storms from noon till after supper across the region. The risk is very real for heavy rain, dangerous lightning, strong winds, hail and even a weak tornado.

Check back to this sight today for updated warnings which will appear in text or in the links on the left hand side, or listen to your favorite radio. Keep an eye on the sky today, be safe.