Rainy weekend

At right: NOAA image of Tropical Storm Daniele this morning

Tropical Update: Tropical Storm Daniele has formed in the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The storm is moving WNW at 14mph with 60mph winds. Forecasters expect Daniele to become a hurricane in the next 24 hours and move northwest to be southeast of Bermuda by Saturday.

It certainly felt like September this past weekend. Clouds and northeast winds kept the temperatures in the teens most of the time and an intermittent rain fell from late Saturday through most of Sunday and into this morning in Montreal. The chilly wet weather made it feel like autumn, and the signs of fall are all around as the days grow shorter and the leaves slowly begin to turn. School is back at many locations this morning, and our Sears Christmas Wish Book was even dropped on the doorstep Sunday. Way to soon, but hey what can you do.

Rainfall totals were decent in the region in the neighborhood of 15-25mm. The heaviest rain fell and is still falling over the St. Lawrence Valley between Kingston and Prescott and south of the border into upstate New York. Rain totals have been impressive from this storm in that region. Kemptville has received 24mm, Brockville 65.2mm as of this morning and the rain continues to fall. Potsdam, New York has recorded 3.16" and Norwood south of Massena 5.60". Flood advisories remain in effect for portions of St. Lawrence County this morning as well as other parts of the Adirondacks and northern New York. The rain should slowly taper off today, and the balance of the week looks fair with warmer weather by next weekend.

Warning: RANT below!
I find it interesting that Environment Canada posted heavy rain warnings for areas adjacent to Lakes Ontario and Erie and then canceled them before the event had even began. Portions of the region ended up exceeding 50mm in 24 hours. They never bothered to issue any advisories for eastern Ontario, just a statement for 20-30mm, and Brockville is approaching 70mm or just under three inches. I find they just continue to confuse the public with variable criteria for warnings and watches, issuing them and then cancelling them with little explanation, especially when the event is ongoing. Most of the media and general public has no idea how our warning system works in this country. We need more clearly defined watches and warnings like those of the National Weather Service in the US. Just my thoughts...SB