Record high - calm before the storm

Major damage from Sandy in Santiago de Cuba. (Reuters Photo)

I just walked the dog and what a warm night it is here in Montreal, almost summer like, calm and moonlit. We managed yet another record high today in what has been a year full of them. Temperatures here on L'Ile Perrot reached 22C (72F) while it was officially 21C (70F) at the airport in Dorval. We managed to squeak by the previous record of 20.6C set in 1963. A strong cold front lies to our west this evening with temperatures much cooler behind the front, it is only 7C in Toronto tonight with showers. A line of showers is approaching eastern Ontario so we may see some rain before morning. Our attention will then turn to Hurricane Sandy that is moving away from the Bahamas tonight with 75 mph winds. Sandy is expected to weaken slightly and then regain hurricane strength over the weekend while brushing the Carolina coast. The system will then merge with a front and create a rather large and deep ocean storm that is forecast to make landfall along the Middle Atlantic coast and move inland over Pennsylvania and New York. It is still unclear what the exact timing and impact will be for Montreal, southern Quebec and Eastern Ontario, but there will be one. Look for increasing rain and wind from Sunday through Halloween. The potential is there for damaging winds and flooding rains.

The storm has been deadly with lots of flooding and wind damage in Cuba, Jamaica and the Bahamas. Over 41 deaths have been blamed on Sandy so far. Winds and waves are increasing tonight across the Outer Banks of North Carolina where ocean over wash is expected at the various high tide cycles over the next several days. A tropical storm warning is in effect. Some evacuations have been ordered for the Jersey Shore, and a state of emergency has been declared so far in Maryland, Delaware and Virginia.