Dangerous Sandy to impact southern Quebec & Ontario

HIGH WIND WARNING: Montreal & the St Lawrence Valley as well as storm warnings for the Great Lakes and southern Ontario. Northeast Winds from 60-100km/h.

 MONTREAL: In southern Quebec and Ontario, strong winds will develop today increasing out of the northeast up to 100km/h by this evening. They will ease by Tuesday morning. Some light rain is expected overnight but the big story will be the howling wind down the St. Lawrence Valley. Prepare for the likelihood of power outages across Quebec and into Ontario. Temperatures through this event will be mild in southern Quebec but much cooler in Ontario. This morning Montreal is at 11C while Toronto is only 4C, it has been cold there all weekend. Rainfall will be light in Montreal, under 25mm (1 inch) for the entire event, but could be as much as 75mm (3 inches) in the GTA where rain has been falling all weekend.  There is even the chance for some snow across central and southern Ontario and south into the Appalachians of West Virginia and Tennessee.

The forecast track of Sandy takes here into southern Quebec this week. The main weather in Montreal will be strong northeast winds.

Hurricane Sandy is a little stronger this morning as she sits 385 miles south of New York City moving north at 15mph. Hurricane Hunters have reported a deepening storm with a central pressure of 946mb and winds over 85mph. The storm has produced tremendous coastal flooding from North Carolina to Delaware with damage reported to homes and coastal infrastructure. Sandy will begin to transition into a powerful mid-latitude storm today as she turns northwest towards the Delaware and New Jersey coastlines. Severe to record coastal flooding is expected from the Carolina's north to Long Island. Inland strong winds will spread all the way to the Great Lakes. This is a serious storm and has virtually shut down the most populated area of North America. Flights are cancelled, schools and business closed and rail has been suspended. Rainfall will add to the storm damage with 4 to 10 inches (100-250mm) forecast across the middle Atlantic. Rain will taper off rapidly north of the track.

Major coastal flooding has affected the Outer Banks of  North Carolina including here in  Ocracoke Village. I vacation here every year and wish them all well today. (Ocracoke Island Journal photo)