Much needed rain for Ontario & Quebec

A tornado on Tuesday near Davin, Saskatchewan. (Photo by Kathy Rosenkranz)

Low pressure will travel south of the Great Lakes over the next 36 to 48 hours with a frontal wave affecting the region. We start with lots of sunshine today and warm July highs of 27C (81F), just perfect for the date. Clouds increase this evening along with showers and thunderstorms starting in southern Ontario and spreading eastward. The further southwest you go down the 401, the more rain you will encounter. A good 15-30mm is likely in Ontario, for some locations this will be the most rain all summer. Montreal and southern Quebec can expect the showers by Thursday with perhaps a rumble of thunder. The heavies rain should remain south of the border across central New York and southern Vermont. Showers will persist into Friday with unstable and humid air in place.

It was another active day in Saskatchewan on Tuesday with numerous thunderstorms flaring up in a line from Regina to Assiniboia and east to the Manitoba border. Several tornadoes were confirmed including a well developed storm near Davin, 36km east of Regina.

Environment Canada confirmed yesterday that major tree damage on Monday south of Renfrew and near Mississippi Lake, Ontario was caused by straight line winds in a micro burst reaching speeds of up to 110km/h. Damage was widespread as well as a few injuries. Here in Quebec power remains out to at least 2000 customers with crews being called back from vacation to deal with the storm damage.