Teddy makes landfall in eastern Nova Scotia

A fishing trawler in Seaforth, Nova Scoita sits tightly secured early Tuesday morning in advance of Hurricane Teddy. Teddy made landfall as a strong post-tropical storm early Wednesday morning near Sheet Harbour. Damage so far has been minor. (CBC)

Hurricane Teddy completed a transformation into a powerful post-tropical cyclone late Tuesday, before moving into Nova Scotia, well northeast of Halifax. The once Category 4 hurricane moved inland between Sheet Harbour and Ecum Secum, Nova Scotia around 10AM Atlantic Time Wednesday morning.

At the time of landfall, Teddy had 105km/h winds, with a central pressure of 964 millibars. Teddy is now racing off to the northeast at 43km/h, expected to move into the Gulf of St. Lawrence later today, and then across far western Newfoundland. The storm continues to produce heavy rain and strong winds, but it has been the fierce surf and pounding waves that have been Teddy's main feature. Wave heights in some offshore locations have been over 10 metre high (30 feet). 

So far minimal damage has been reported across the province, with the strongest winds occurring north and east of Halifax. A peak wind gust to 107km/h was recently reported at Hart Island, and 97km/h at Eskasoni. Winds have been frequently gusting close to 100km/h on Sable Island. Nova Scotia power is reporting a little over 18,000 clients without electricity as of 11am. Approximately 300 crews have been assigned to storm damage, with the assistance of several teams from New Brunswick Power.

Teddy will continue to move northeast today while weakening slightly. The storm is large in size, with tropical storm force winds extending outward up to 335km from the center. Cloud cover from Teddy has spread as far west as southern Quebec Wednesday morning. Gusty northwest winds will develop across most of Quebec on Wednesday as Teddy pulls away and a pressure gradient develops between the storm and high pressure nudging into our region.

Hurricane Teddy to impact Atlantic Canada

The Canadian Hurricane Centre forecast track for hurricane Teddy. Teddy is currently a category 2 storm southeast of Bermuda. The large hurricane will be transitioning into a powerful post-tropical cyclone as it approaches Canadian waters late Tuesday.

Early Monday morning, category 2 hurricane teddy was located 260km southeast of Bermuda. The large hurricane had 260km/h winds and was moving north northeast at 15km/h. 

Teddy is producing massive ocean swells all along the eastern seaboard from Nova Scotia to North Carolina. Coastal flooding continues to be an issue along the Outer Banks, with large waves washing over dunes and coastal roads.

Teddy is expected to move into Canadian waters during Tuesday afternoon. A tropical storm watch is currently in effect for the Nova Scotia coast including Cape Breton Island. Seas are forecast to build in the offshore waters between 10-15 metres (30-50 feet). Those wave heights will translate into quite a storm surge along southeast facing shorelines.

NOAA satellite image of hurricane Teddy moving east of Bermuda on Monday, September 21.

In addition to the pounding surf and storm surge, strong winds of 80-110km'h are expected. The strongest winds should remain offshore at this time. Heavy rain and flash flooding may also occur, as 100-150mm of rain is forecast along and to the west of the storm track. 

Teddy is forecast to arrive in Nova Scotia late Tuesday before moving across the Gulf of St. Lawrence and into southern Newfoundland Wednesday. Strong winds are expected to produce tree damage and the possibility of widespread power outages across the region.

Perfect stretch of fall weather ahead for Montreal

A very smoky sunset over southern Quebec on Wednesday evening. Gusty southwest winds delivered smoke from the western United States wildfires all the way  into eastern Canada. The smoke was very high in the atmosphere and had very little impact at the surface. The air was swept clean by a cold front on Thursday morning. (Valley Weather Photo)

High pressure is settling into southern Quebec Friday afternoon, with the prospect of near-perfect late summer, early fall weather through the middle of next week. Along with bright sunshine will come colder than normal temperatures through the weekend. 

There is a good chance of frost in most locations tonight and especially Saturday night. The only exception will be along the St. Lawrence River and in the urban areas of Montreal. This is early for the first frost, with the average date not coming until October. But that has been 2020, snow in May followed by a scorching hot summer, and now an early fall.

Overnight lows through the weekend will range from 0C (32F) to 3C (38F). Daytime highs will be in the 12C (54F) to 14C (56F) range. Those highs will rise slightly into the middle to perhaps upper teens by next Tuesday. No precipitation is forecast through at least Wednesday.

The forecast track of hurricane Teddy, has the storm approaching Nova Scotia as a hurricane, by late in the day Tuesday. (NHC)

Tropical Atlantic

Early this morning, a rather high deck of stratus cloud cover moved over the southern portion of the province including Montreal. The clouds were actually associated with the remains of hurricane Sally, passing well south of our region, over the middle Atlantic states. Sally made landfall as a category 2 hurricane around 5am Wednesday morning in Gulf Shores, Alabama. The storm produced significant, widespread damage along coastal Alabama and the Florida panhandle. Top wind speed reported was at Gulf Shores at 197km/h (123 mph). Historic rainfall occurred with Sally with 1 to 2 feet falling in many locations. The largest accumulation was at Bellview, Florida, where 760mm (30") of rain fell. Over 500,000 homes and businesses were left without power across the southeast US. Three fatalities have been associated with the hurricane so far, with damage expected to run into the billions of dollars.

Sally was just one of several storms that are in the Atlantic basin currently. Powerful hurricane Teddy was located 1420km southeast of Bermuda Friday afternoon, with 215km/h winds. Teddy is forecast to brush by Bermuda this weekend, before taking aim at Nova Scotia. Teddy is expected to approach Canadian waters, still as a hurricane, by late Tuesday. 

Further southwest of Teddy's location is tropical storm Wilfred. In the Gulf of Mexico, tropical depression 22 is expected to become a tropical storm today and possibly a hurricane this weekend. The storms future may take it into the upper Texas coast by early next week. 

Remember September...

One of two Quebec aircraft, a Bombardier "super scooper" shown above battling wildfires in southern California last week. The province has dispatched 60 personal and 2 water bombers to help with the dozens of major fires burning across the state. (SOPFEU)

Remember September is part an old Carib Indians saying that refers to the increase in hurricane activity in the month of September across the West Indies. This saying takes on a new meaning in the wildly unpredictable Covid year of 2020. The weather is downright crazy, just about everywhere across North America this year, with record-breaking heat, strong thunderstorms, hurricanes, wildfires and even snow!

As I write this update early Sunday morning, forecasters are watching six tropical systems in the Atlantic Basin. The busy season has already featured 18 named storms. Before we start into the tropics, I will take a brief look at the weather here in Montreal. September has been, well, tranquil so far, especially in reference to the rest of the continent. Rainfall and temperatures have been very close to normal to start the month. We have has a few colder mornings, but only patchy frost to date. The last week of summer, will feature some rain along a warm front to today, along  with gusty southwest winds. Temperatures will rise to either side of 20C across southern Quebec. A cold front will deliver more showers this evening, before cooler and drier air arrives for Monday and Tuesday. Monday will feature cooler temperatures, with highs near 16C and lows around 6C. Warmer air will return by mid-week, before we deal with the remains of Sally.

TROPICAL STORM SALLY

Tropical storm Sally developed late Saturday just south of Key West, Florida. The storm is located about 485 km southeast of New Orleans early Sunday. Forecasters expect Sally to strengthen into hurricane before making landfall along the southeast Louisiana coast late Monday. Hurricane warnings have been raised Sunday along the northern Gulf Coast from Florida to Louisiana. Some evacuations have already been ordered for New Orleans. Overnight over a foot of rain fell in the Florida Keys, with flash flooding reported.

Thousands of acres are burning from southern California into southern B.C. (NOAA)

WILDFIRES

Tens of thousands of acres continue to burn across the western US this weekend. The fast moving wildfires have scorched homes and business across California and into Oregon and Washington. The smoke from the fires has turned day into and eerie pre-dawn glow in major cities including Seattle, Portland and San Francisco. The smoke is now drifting into southern Canada. Air quality advisories are in place from southern BC into Alberta. Sunday morning Vancouver was reporting under 2 km visibility in smoke. The intense fires have claimed at least 28 lives so far, with dozens missing. Many believe the fires will burn until the snow arrives in the late fall. The Province of Quebec has sent 2 aircraft and 60 personnel so far to help battle the fires in California. It is a very sad situation, with many homes destroyed and thousands left homeless in what already has been a difficult year for so many.

A shocking summer snowstorm swept across the northern and central US Rockies last Wednesday, just 24 hours after record highs in the upper 90s. Temperatures have already returned back into the 80s this weekend. (WX Chasing Image)

SUMMER SNOW

One last note, this past week a strong cold front settled across Alberta into Montana and points south. Flurries and patchy frost were reported in Alberta. Temperatures in Wyoming and Colorado fell from the upper 30s (95 to 100 F) into the low single digits above and below freezing from late Tuesday into Wednesday morning. Denver reported snow and freezing temperatures only 24 hours after highs in the upper 90s. The snow caught many motorists off guard, with dozens of accidents reported.

I can only imagine what the rest of 2020 has planned for us in the weather department.

Welcome to Meteorological Fall

Fall weather can be spectacular in Montreal, but it still means less daylight and cooler nights. While many prefer fall, I am already missing the hot weather.

Hard to believe it, but summer 2020 is quickly slipping away, with fall weather on the horizon for Montreal. September 1st is considered the start of meteorological fall, with the warmest three months of the year now behind us. The calendar will catch up in a few weeks on September 22 at 9:31 EDT. There is already a hint of colour in some of the trees in my neighbourhood.

August was a little surprising to me, I had expected it to be just as torrid a month as July. Temperatures were warm to start the month, but much cooler to end. August turned out to be a very humid month, along with frequent rounds of showers and thunderstorms. Those showers and storms not only helped lower the monthly average temperature, but deposited plenty of rainfall. A total of 174.2mm of rain fell at the airport, the normal should be 94.1mm. That total was more than May, June and July combined in Montreal, when just 167.4mm fell. A large amount of the monthly total occurred when the remains of hurricane Isaias passed through southern Quebec on August 4.

All that cloud cover and rainfall resulted in monthly temperatures that were fairly close to normal. The average high at Trudeau Airport was 20.6C (69F), just slightly above the long-term normal of 20.1C (68.2F). There was only 1 day that officially went above 30C at Trudeau, that was 33.2C (91.8C) on August 11. That brings the total number of days at 30C or warmer to a record-setting 24 for Montreal in 2020. 

Looking ahead, September is expected to be slightly warmer than normal, with daily highs in the low to middle 20s. The nights are becoming longer and thus much cooler. The average overnight low starts the month at 12C (54F) but drops into the single digits by the end, at 7C (45F). Frost typically holds off until mid-October, at least in the urban areas.