Weekend Recap

Above & below right: Halifax on Saturday (Halifax Chronicle).

It was a busy weekend in the weather world, and that has continued into this Labor Day Monday. First, locally here in Montreal we had a very windy weekend. This was a result of multiple cold fronts moving in from our west along with the increase in northerly winds from Earl in Atlantic Canada. Winds gusted out of the southwest as strong as 70km/h in southern Quebec and up to 85km/h in eastern Ontario. There was even the occasional rumble of thunder on Sunday. There were scattered power outages reported in Ontario. In addition to the strong winds, temperatures were in a free fall all weekend. After tying the all time September record high on Friday at 33.5C, we struggled to only 18C yesterday, (thanks Nick for the correction). Today will be warmer under some partial sunshine, about 23C. Some showers tonight along a warm front followed by a warmer day Tuesday at 27C. The balance of the week will be variable with more clouds than sun, and almost - dare I say - fall like in the 20C range.

Here are some observations from Hurricane Earl across Atlantic Canada.The strongest winds reported were at Beaver Island at 135km/h, well above hurricane force. The most rain fell at Edmunston, NB at 76.5mm. In PEI, East Point had a wind of 98km/h, and in Wreckhouse, Nefoundland 129km/h. A buoy on the Scotian Slope reported 25.1 metre seas and one at the approach to Halifax Harbor 23.3 metres

This morning Earl is all but forgotten as clean up continues in Nova Scotia. To our south the remain of Gaston are located near Puerto Rico and showing some signs of regeneration. To my surprise the area of unsettled weather in the Gulf of Mexico became Tropical Storm Hermine overnight. Tropical Storm warnings are in effect for the Mexican coast and the south Texas Coast from the Rio Grande River to Baffin Bay. The storm is expected to move onshore early Tuesday with heavy rain and 50mph winds.