Another week of humid weather for Montreal

It is a rainy morning at about 17C in Lac Megantic, Quebec as emergency workers and investigators continue to sift through the wreckage left behind from that terrible train accident early Saturday morning. The death toll stands at 5 with 40 missing. My thoughts and prayers go out to all affected by this senseless and needless event.

It was another warm and humid weekend in southern Quebec with highs near 30C on Saturday, but a little cooler 26C on Sunday with clouds and some decent downpours. Around 21mm fell here at my home on L'Ile Perrot. Today, more of the same, warm and humid with the ever present risk of showers or thunderstorms. Flash flooding continues to be a major concern over New York and Vermont where daily downpours have left rivers full and the the ground saturated, watches are in effect. As a matter fact a terrible rash of drownings has occurred in Quebec & New England as a result of people swimming in the rain swollen rivers. Water levels are at record highs after 150 to 300mm of rain fell in June and 90mm in July so far in portions of the Northeast/Quebec. Officials advise you to be extremely careful around any body of water this summer as they are higher and faster than normal.

The tropics are active once again with Tropical Storm Chantal developing late Sunday. The center of Chantal is located about 705 miles (1130 km) east of Barbados with 40 mph winds. The system is moving west at 26 mph with warnings in effect for a portion of the Lesser Antilles. Forecasters believe at this time that Chantal will remain a decent tropical storm as she moves across the Caribbean Sea towards the Bahamas by next weekend. The storm will likely affect portions of Haiti and Cuba with torrential rain by mid week.