Wild weather from coast to coast to coast in Canada

A horrifying image from a video taken by a resident evacuating Lytton, B.C. during a fast-moving firestorm Wednesday afternoon. The small community northeast of Vancouver was devastated by fire after setting the all-time Canadian high temperature record on three consecutive days. (CBC News/2 Rivers Remix Society/Vimeo)   

It has been an eventful weather week across Canada, with historic heat in the west, tornadoes in Ontario and some drought-busting thunderstorms in southern Quebec. Starting locally, thunderstorms produced 25 to 75mm (1-3 inches) of rain across southern Quebec on Wednesday. The heavy, sudden tropical downpours produced ponding of water on roads and even some damage from flash flooding across several lower Laurentian communities. Dozens of roads were washed out affecting at least a dozen municipalities including Mont Tremblant. Damage aside, the rainfall was a blessing in what has otherwise been and extremely dry spring. Over 50mm of rain fell in the Montreal region over the last week, bringing the June total to 103.6mm. The storms also produced strong winds, 91km/h at Trudeau Airport.

Torrential downpours late Tuesday and Wednesday dropped over 75mm of rain across parts of the lower Laurentians. In Lac Supérieur, northwest of St Jerome, dozens of residents were evacuated and roads were washed out. (Photo: Municipality of Lac-Supérieur via Twitter)

As we close out the week, an upper level low will bring September-like weather to southern Quebec for Friday. Cool northeast winds and scattered showers will keep temperatures in the teens today. Warmer and more humid weather will return as we head though the weekend and into early next week. Temperatures will rise to near 30C in Montreal by Tuesday along with more thunderstorms.

Western Heat & Fire

The historic and deadly heatwave has taken a toll on B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan. There have been hundreds of heat-related fatalities. The electric grid has taken a beating with widespread power outages reported. The tinder-dry conditions have created an extreme fire danger. On Wednesday afternoon, a fast moving wildfire ravaged the small town of Lytton, BC just hours after they had set the all-time Canadian high temperature record of 49.6C (121F). The town of 250 located northeast of Vancouver in the Frasier Canyon was 90 percent destroyed by the ferocious fast-moving firestorm. Aided by strong, shifting winds and fuelled by days of excessively dry hot weather, the fire virtually moved unchecked across the valley, despite the heroic efforts of BC Wildfire Service. An evacuation order was issued shortly before the fire arrived, giving residents minutes to leave. Most fled to the neighbouring communities of  Merritt, Lillooet and Boston Bar.

Hurricane Elsa

The earliest "E" named storm on record for the Atlantic Hurricane season is Elsa. Elsa became a hurricane early Friday morning, with 120km/h (75mph) winds. The storm was located 65km west of Barbados early Friday, moving west northwest at 44km/h. Elsa is expected to remain a strong tropical storm or Category 1 hurricane over the next few days as she carves a path across the Caribbean and passes between Haiti and Jamaica over the weekend. By early next week, the tropical system will be approaching the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the west coast of Florida.