The end of summer 2013

It is so hard for me to believe summer is over. As with many in Canada, it is my favorite season and always has been. When we look back at summer 2013, most people say the same, it was ok, just ok. Nothing spectacular either way with just the one heatwave in July and pretty much near normal weather the rest of the time. I know there were plenty of thunderstorms around the region, especially Vermont, but as far a L'Ile Perrot goes, not so much. One strong storm so far and otherwise most missed the Island to the north or south. There has been a little more cloud and showers and far too many 23C days for my liking!

Summer 2013 will end on a muggy note across the entire region with showers developing later today and showers and thunderstorms expected for the long Labor Day weekend. Temperatures will be near 27C (80F) in most areas from the St. Lawrence Valley into New England. The humidity will make it feel a little warmer. The best chance for stronger thunderstorms will be on Saturday. The warm and humid weather will continue into early next week before a cold front brings some September weather by Wednesday.

Humid in Ontario & Quebec - more flooding in Toronto

It remains very hot across the Midwest and upper lakes and extremely humid in Ontario and Quebec. A warm front remains stalled over the region with a very stagnant air mass in place. High dew points and relative humidity readings have lead to widespread dense fog this morning. Both Montreal and Ottawa are reporting less than 0.6 km in fog. Motorists should adjust their speeds until the fog lifts later this morning. It will remain muggy and misty with the risk of showers and thunderstorms this afternoon. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain, especially in southern Ontario.

Lower Simcoe underpass in Toronto last evening. (Jackie Crandles - CP/24)

On Tuesday soaking thunderstorms stretched across central Ontario with flash flooding reported once again in parts of Toronto. The rain and thunderstorms are occurring along the periphery of a very hot air mass that has pushed temperatures to there warmest readings of the summer in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana. The heat has spread west into Manitoba and Saskatchewan where both Regina and Winnipeg were 33C (92F) on Tuesday.

Late summer heatwave

Very hot weather is blanketing the upper Midwest, western Great Lakes into portions of northwest Ontario and the southern Prairies. It has not been a great summer in the Midwest with lots of cool, wet weather but such is not the case this week. Temperatures will soar into the low 30's from Regina to Thunder Bay. South of the border Minneapolis is already 80F this morning on the way to 95F. Excessive heat warnings and advisories are in effect across that region. The heat will last through the Labor Day weekend.

Meanwhile along the periphery of the warm dome of air, showers, thunderstorms and very humid weather prevails from the eastern Lakes into southern Quebec. Most of the wet weather yesterday remained in Ontario and such will be the case today as well. It will remain that way through most of the week. Temperatures today in Montreal will reach 27C (80F) but with high humidity, 94% this morning, and dew points in the low 20's making it feel uncomfortable. It is misty and muggy this morning in Montreal and already 21C (70F). So back to school this week will be warm especially in those older schools without A/C.

Warm and humid week for Quebec & Ontario

We are off to a muggy start to the week across Ontario and Quebec this morning as a warm front slowly crosses the Great Lakes. Most of the activity is over the central lakes this morning into the GTA. Some storms have produced torrential rains with up to 30mm overnight. Montreal remains on the edge of the activity with only about 5mm overnight. Temperatures are warm this morning near 20C with a high humidity reading of over 90%. It will be muggy all day with scattered showers and storms. Temperatures will reach 26C. The balance of the week looks similar with some sunshine but also showers and thunderstorms. Drier air will move into Montreal by Thursday but it will remain warm well into next weekend.

(National Hurricane Center)

Tropical Storm Fernand developed rapidly on Sunday and will dissipate just as rapidly today over central Mexico. The storm formed in the Bay of Campeche and moved inland to be about 60 miles northwest of Veracruz this morning. Winds are near 45mph with weakening forecast today. As always with tropical systems in Mexico, heavy rain and flooding will be the main threat today. Between 4 inches
and as much as 1 foot of rain is forecast.

Another spectacular weekend for Montreal

High pressure has settled into the region this morning as a cold front slides off the New England coast. Temperatures are a little crisp around the area with a hint of fall in the air. Temperatures range from 12 to 16C with a very heavy dew. It will warm quickly today with afternoon highs up to 23C. The weekend looks perfect for anything outdoors with sunshine and high temperatures in the 25 to 27C range.

On Wednesday warm air surged into the area for what may be the last 30C highs of the season. Several records were broken including 30C (86F) at St. Anicet/Lancaster. I recorded 30.0C here as well on L'Ile Perrot, the warmest temperature for August. It was slightly cooler at the airport as usual, reaching 29C.

Showers and some thunder on Thursday produced a little over 13mm (0.5") rainfall here on the island. Welcome moisture for the lawns and gardens. Both Trudeau and Ottawa had about 8mm, while St. Hubert on the South Shore recorded the same as here at home, around 13mm.

Hot weather for back to school

The spectacular full Sturgeon moon last evening. This was also known as a blue moon, the first in three years. A blue moon is a second full moon in less than a month. Find more information HERE.

While many Quebec kids are getting ready to head back to school next week, the weather has finally turned more summer like. Temperatures have returned to near 30C in southern Ontario and Quebec, with increasing humidity expected today. Forecast highs of 29 to 32C (85-90F) are expected across the region. A cold front is entering central northeast Ontario and far northwest Quebec today with showers and some strong thunderstorms. That front will settle across southern Ontario and Quebec by Thursday afternoon. Look for sunshine today and early Thursday in Montreal before clouds increase with showers arriving by early afternoon. Severe weather is unlikely but a few of the storms may be strong with hail, gusty winds and heavy rain by Thursday afternoon. Behind the front temperatures will cool for Friday to normal values of 23C with the air drying out. The weekend looks fair and mild with normal highs around 24C and lows around 14C.

Sunshine - warm for Quebec & Ontario

Temperatures on Sunday reached around 27C (80F) in most of southern Quebec with a southwest breeze and plenty of sunshine. The forecast is very simple for most of this work week, sunny and dry with temperatures between 28 and 32C. (85-90F). An increase in humidity by Thursday will result in more clouds and perhaps some thunderstorms by late in the day. Conditions will turn cooler by Friday. Until then enjoy the outdoors, the weather will be perfect.

Winter?
After record breaking heat early in August, parts of the high Arctic have come back down to reality. A snowfall warning was in effect overnight for Grise Fiord in Nunavut where 15-25cm of snow was forecast. It is -1C this morning with light snow from Grise Fiord north into Eureka and Alert. The week looks cold with occasional flurries and temperature below freezing.

Spectacular late summer weather

We all know summer is in the waning moments. This is always hard to take, especially if you are a summer lover like myself. It honestly has not been a great one at so many levels, but it is still summer, and a bad summer is better than a good winter. Today will be similar to Thursday with warm sunshine giving way to clouds and a slight risk of a shower or thunderstorm. That will be the last raindrops for quite some time. High pressure will park itself over southern Quebec for the next week with sunshine and temperatures warning to near 30C early next week. Humidity will also be on the increase across the region into the middle portion of next week. But all you need to know for the time being is that the weekend will be perfect across southern Quebec, Ontario and New England, sunny, dry and warm. Enjoy!

Big thunderstorms sweep Montreal

Slow moving thunderstorms Tuesday evening dropped nearly 50mm of rain in less than 1 hour on portions of Montreal including Montreal North and Anjou. Houses were flooded and some roads closed including Highway 25. (Radio-Canada)

A late evening cold front crossed Montreal and southern Quebec on Tuesday with thunderstorms. Some of the storms produced flash flooding in parts of the city especially north of Montreal island. Here on L'Ile Perrot I only recorded a few millimeters of rain as the bulk of the activity passed north or south of my location. For whatever reason this has been the typical storm path all summer long. The front has ushered in some cool, fall like temperatures with current readings at 14C (56F). We are looking at cloudy skies today with the threat of some showers and even an isolated thunderstorm this morning. The activity will taper off as the day moves along. It will clear out tonight and be chilly with lows near 10C (50F). The balance of the week into the weekend looks spectacular with sunshine and temperatures from 24 to 28C by Sunday. Even the start of next week looks sunny and warm at this time.

The tropics are heating up as we approach the peak period of hurricane season. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center are watching two areas of interest in the far eastern Caribbean and also the southern Gulf of Mexico. The disturbance in the Gulf could become tropical storm Erin within the next 48 hours.

Good weather week ahead for Montreal

Another sunny and very pleasant late summer day is upon us as temperatures will reach 27C (81F) in Montreal. It is breezy out of the west and that will continue but otherwise it is near perfect weather. A cold front will push across Ontario later today and into southern Quebec overnight. Ahead and along the front clouds will yield to some showers and perhaps a thunderstorm. There may be some small hail and heavy rain with any storms that do develop in Ontario today. The threat will be less in Montreal. Clouds and showers will linger into Tuesday with slightly cooler weather. High pressure then takes over the weather into next weekend with sunshine and temperatures warming up.

Arctic heatwave - Inuvik warmer than Toronto

It was 27C yesterday in Toronto, 28C in Montreal, warm for what has been generally a cool summer. However in the far north and across the high Arctic, it has been downright hot with records falling in both the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut. Yesterday Inuvik, NWT established a new record high of 30.4C (86F) beating the old record of 28.1C set in 1989. The normal high for early August is 17C (63F). More heat today and into the weekend with forecast highs of 28C. Even across the high Arctic, Rankin Inlet was 25C (77F) the normal high is 15C, and Sachs Harbor was 19C their normal high is 7C. Sunshine and warmth is forecast right through the weekend and into next week. Vacation plans anybody?

Photo of an EF-0 tornado near Orillia, Ontario on Wednesday. (CBC News)

Ontario Tornadoes
Environment Canada has confirmed three tornadoes in Ontario on Wednesday bringing the total to 14 for the season. Three EF-0 (Enhanced Fujita Scale 0-5) storms occurred in Arthur/Grand Valley, Orillia and near Carnarvon. Meanwhile a waterspout was reported in the Kawartha Lakes region. The storms were capable of winds in excess of 100km/h, but thankfully no major damage or injuries were reported.

Montreal
A cold front sagged slowly south across the Montreal region overnight with showers and a rumble of thunder. About 11mm of rain fell here on L'Ile Perrot. The bigger storms remained to our south over New York and Vermont where up to 5 inches (125mm) of rain has fallen overnight. Flash flood watches and warnings are in place today in Vermont and New York south of Burlington and Plattsburgh with more thunderstorms developing in the warm and humid air. The good news is that high pressure will arrive for the weekend with mild and dry air. Look for sunshine in Montreal both Saturday and Sunday with highs near 24C (76F), perfect late summer weather.

Showers & thunderstorms southern Quebec & Ontario

This will be brief this morning, I apologize, it has been a challenging week. We start the day in Montreal with partly cloudy skies, expect increasing clouds with showers and thunderstorms developing by late afternoon into the overnight hours. Temperatures today will flirt with the 27C mark (80F) in the St. Lawrence Valley. Some thunderstorms may approach strong to severe limits with heavy rain and some hail possible especially in southern Ontario today and towards Montreal late tonight. More showers and storms are forecast for Thursday in southern Quebec with showers lingering into Friday. Right now the weekend looks perfect with warm sunshine, low humidity and highs near 25C both Saturday and Sunday.

Chilly start to a decent week for Montreal

A developing thunderstorm over Montreal Sunday afternoon with the Environment Canada - Quebec Weather Centre building in the foreground. (ValleyWX)

It is a little like September this morning as reality begins to arrive for most of us. The truth is we are on the backside of summer 2013. It is not over by any means but is has been cooler and the nights are getting longer with lots of dew and even some fog around. This morning it was 9.9C here on L'Ile Perrot with lows as cold as 7C in Kemptville, ON and 2C in Saranac Lake, NY. Today will be sunny with temperatures recovering to 22C (72F), a very pleasant, low humidity day. The entire week looks good with temperatures warming to the middle 20's with the best chance for showers coming Thursday.

The skies were wild over the weekend here in southern Quebec as an upper level low traveled across the region. Both days started off dry but the atmosphere quickly became unstable with lots of showers and thunderstorms developing. Clouds were impressive playing hide and seek with the sun producing lots of rainbows. Spectacular lightning lit up the sky Saturday night here on L'Ile Perrot. There was even some hail reported southeast of Montreal.

Just another summer 2013 weekend in Montreal

A spectacular shot Tweeted by the National Weather Service office in Mobile, Alabama of thunderstorms lighting up the night sky over the Gulf of Mexico.

The weekend weather won't be perfect, but not many have them have been in Montreal during this bizarre summer. July is over and with it record heat, record cold and lots of rain for Quebec and Ontario. Rain fell in places where it normally does not in July, like Death Valley, California (0.75"). None fell in places where it is wet all the time, like Seattle that had a trace of precipitation for July. August appears to be no different as the same weather pattern remains in place. So temperatures will soar into the high 20's near 80F in Greenland and across the far north while it remains in the low 20's (70F) across the Great Lakes and southern Quebec.

On Thursday another 10mm of rain fell on L'Ile Perrot in afternoon thunderstorms, some that were quite gusty with strong winds and torrential rain. This morning it is muggy with fog and clouds. Sunshine will break through allowing the temperature to rise to 24C (76F) and the atmosphere to become unstable once again. Look for a 40% chance of storms this afternoon. The same forecast for Saturday can be expected across the region. Sunday looks a little cooler with showers. No real hot air in sight next week as temperatures remain below normal for August in Montreal.

TD Dorian
The remains of once tropical storm Dorian are showing some signs of strengthening off the southeast coast of Florida this morning. The system will be watched closely by the NHC as it continues
to slowly drift north northeast along the coast. Gusty winds and rain will affect the coastal waters between Florida and the Bahamas today.

Ottawa EF-0 tornado confirmed

From CBC.ca an EF-0 tornado forms near Orleans, Ontario Monday.

Environment Canada has confirmed that an EF-0 tornado touched down briefly at Pine View Golf Course in the east end Ottawa suburb of Orleans late Monday afternoon. The 5:15pm tornado left about 30 trees snapped like match sticks with winds estimated up to 110 km/h. The storm was part of a series of thunderstorm cells that developed in unstable and humid air on Monday. Several showers and brief thunderstorms also affected Montreal around the lunch hour Monday with brief heavy rain and lightning but thankfully no damage this time. One element of the storms in Montreal I did notice was how much cold air was brought down to the surface during them. The temperature in Montreal fell from 24C to 17C in a matter of minutes around 1pm on Monday.

Tree damage at Pine View Golf in Orleans. (CTV News)

This was the 10th tornado of the season in Ontario. The enhanced Fujita scale (EF scale) is divided into six categories with EF-0 being the weakest and EF-5 being the strongest. On average, 12 tornadoes are verified each year in Ontario during a season that runs from late April until early October. Despite lots of straight line wind damage this summer, only one tornado has been confirmed in Quebec this year.

Wet weather for Montreal & Ontario
Enjoy the sunshine and warm high temperatures near 27C (81F) today because much cooler and wet weather is on the way beginning late Thursday well into this weekend. A cold front will produce showers and thunderstorms on Thursday and then our weather will be influenced by low pressure. A big and slow moving upper air low pressure system will provide much below normal temperatures and the threat for showers and some thunder all weekend as it moves across eastern Ontario and southern Quebec. Highs will only be near 20C (68F) from Friday through Sunday, certainly a taste of Fall to start August.

Showers & thunderstorms to start week

A spectacular end to a beautiful Saturday on L'Ile Perrot.

An upper level low pressure area near the Ontario & Quebec border continues to slowly lift down the St. Lawrence Valley this morning. This system generated thunderstorms Sunday afternoon that produced quite a bit of rainfall depending where you were in the region. Trudeau Airport measured only 11.6mm but I had over 25mm at my home on L'Ile Perrot, the bulk of that falling in a torrential downpour around 4pm.

We will see a similar day today with a little less shower activity, but still the risk of some decent thunderstorms this afternoon. The day starts off with a little sunshine but the air will rapidly become unstable with the showers developing by noon. Skies will clear tonight and we should see a return to sunshine for the middle portion of the week, Temperatures will be below normal today at 22C (72F) but warm to 26C (79F) for Tuesday. It was a cold weekend in places west of this storm system like the the upper Midwest and northwest Ontario, well below normal for July. There was even a frost advisory overnight for northern Minnesota.

Flossie
A rare event is occurring today with the arrival of Tropical Storm Flossie on the Hawaiian Islands. Flossie this morning is about 200 miles east of Hilo moving west at 17mph. The center is forecast to cross the Big Island this morning and move across the rest of the region over the next 24 hours. Flossie is expected to produce torrential rains, 50-60 mph winds and very high seas over 20 feet with coastal flooding. Despite the islands being very vulnerable in the middle of the Pacific, Flossie is the first system to affect the island this century, the last coming in September 1992 when Hurricane Iniki pounded the islands.

Weekend weather update for Montreal - 50/50

The weekend will be a split with warm sunshine on Saturday and a period of steady rain and even some thunder on Sunday. This morning temperatures across the region are cool, but better than yesterday, already at 15C (59F) here on L'Ile Perrot. Despite the cold start on Thursday we managed a daytime high of  22C, and it was a near perfect day. This morning some high cirrus is around the region, especially close to the US border. This is in response to an out of season coastal low near Cape Cod and moving north into Atlantic Canada. This will bring heavy rain to portions of the Gaspe and New Brunswick, but remain well east of Montreal.

Skies will be sunny today with warm highs of near 27C (80F) across the St. Lawrence Valley from Montreal to Cornwall. The same forecast holds true for Saturday before clouds increase late in the day. A strong low pressure area and associated fronts will cross Quebec and Ontario Sunday with rain and some thunderstorms lasting into Monday. Amounts could exceed 25mm (1 inch) in some spots.

From too hot to a September chill in Montreal

A chaotic sky late Tuesday here on L'Ile Perrot as a potent cold front arrives from Ontario at sunset. Thunderstorms can be seen developing off to the west. 
(ValleyWX Photo)

This summer has featured a little bit of everything across southern Quebec, really we have seen it all. The latest season to pay a visit to the summer of 2013 is late fall, and that is what it felt like walking the dog this morning. I had shorts on, as I always do in July, I refuse to put on jeans. We narrowly missed a record low this morning as the temperature dipped to 8.4C (47F) here on L'Ile Perrot, the record 8.3C set in 1976. The airport was a touch milder near 10C (50F). Regions north and south of the city dropped as low as 6C with Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks hitting 0C (33F) in July. This comes after another hot and humid day on Tuesday that saw temperatures pushing 30C once gain in several spots. Thunderstorms along a potent cold front late Tuesday passed well north and south of my location here on L''Ile Perrot.

On Wednesday stubborn low clouds hung around all day in Montreal, and after early morning highs of 22C here in the city, the temperature fell to 15C (59F) and remained there most of the day making it feel like late September. Temperatures are recovering rapidly this morning in the warm July sun as we have hit 13C (55F) already. Looks for dry and mild weather today and Friday with highs of 22C (72F) today, up to 26C (79F) tomorrow. The weekend looks warmer and more humid with showers and thunderstorms from late Saturday into Sunday.

Tropical Storm Dorion has formed in the open waters of the eastern Atlantic. The storm has 60mph winds this morning and is located 700 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands. The storm is moving west northwest at 17mph and will move to lie north of Puerto Rico by Monday.

Storm cleanup continues in southern Quebec

From Peter McCabe of the Montreal Gazette, cleaning tree debris in the Ste Rose district of Laval on Monday. Hydro Quebec truck in the background restoring power.

Cleaning up the mess in the aftermath of Friday's severe weather continues this morning across the hard hit lower Laurentians and Laval, north of Montreal. Nearly 15,000 Hydro customers remain with power in Quebec down from nearly one half million during the storm Friday. Municipalities have been removing thousands of fallen trees, especially in Laval where the cleanup may take several weeks according to officials.

I have family in the Montreal suburb of Dorval and they were without power for nearly 48 hours. The bulk of the outages were caused during a three hour period Friday when strong thunderstorms brought an end to the 5 day heatwave. Winds gusted in excess of 100km/h bringing down trees on power lines. Meanwhile lightning struck and tripped many transformers. Hydro Quebec and in Ontario Hydro One and Toronto Hydro have been working around the clock to restore power to its clients. Thankfully it has been a little cooler.

David Asch's photo of his Toyota Camry crushed under a  fallen tree south of St Saveur after Friday's storms.

Today we could see more thunderstorms as a cold front approaches the region from the northwest this afternoon. This morning steady and in some cases heavy rain is falling across New York and Vermont while it remains dry in Montreal and most of the St. Lawrence Valley. I am not expecting severe weather today, just some heavy rain at times. Showers and storms that develop this afternoon will last into the overnight. It will clear out on Wednesday and be much cooler and drier. Highs today in Montreal will be near 27C (80F) but only 21C (70F) Wednesday.

One fatality as severe weather sweeps Quebec & Ontario

It is still rather warm and humid this morning in Montreal, but an end to the heatwave is just hours away as drier air settles into the region. The temperature will reach 28C today but drop to 13C tonight, which would be the coolest this month. Sunday will be sunny and dry with pleasant highs of 22C (72F).

From Ottawa Valley TVC via Twitter, trailers destroyed by wind in Pembroke, Ontario.

Yesterday was a wild weather day that featured cell after cell of strong thunderstorms sliding along a cold front draped across the St. Lawrence Valley. The front generated strong southwest winds ahead of it that helped push temperatures up to 33C (92F) in the Montreal metro region and as high as 36C (98F) in Burlington, Vermont. It also produced dew points in Montreal that are more common of south Florida reaching nearly 26C (79F) at my home here on L'Ile Perrot. That is the highest I have ever seen in my years watching Montreal weather. All that juiced up the atmosphere and led to the severe storms that swept the region between 2 and 8pm Friday. The activity started in eastern Ontario with places like Pembroke and Kemptville reporting wind damage, power outages and heavy rain. Once arriving in Quebec, the storms toppled trees and power lines cutting hydro to nearly 500,000 homes in the province. Flooding and debris closed several highways including the Laurentian Autoroute at the 640. The storms were deadly with a 21 year old woman being struck and killed by a tree in Boucherville on the south shore. Several others were injured including 8 campers in Prevost in the Laurentians. Regions north of Montreal in Laval and the lower Laurentians were the hardest hit.

Nearly 30mm of rain fell here on L'Ile Perrot between 5 and 7pm with another 8mm in showers this morning. Winds gusted to over 40km/h most of the day here and peaked at 82km/h during the thunderstorm at Trudeau Airport. While many tornado warnings and watches were issued, only funnel clouds were spotted and Environment Canada believes most of the Quebec damage was caused by straight line winds.