Monday, July 16, 2007

More sun than rain east
Blazing heat west

The sun is shinning a little more these days in Ontario and Quebec, despite this however it remains cooler than normal. The normal high in Montreal and Ottawa should be 27C. So far this summer more than 75 per cent of the days have had some form of rainfall, be it showers or thunderstorms. There have been numerous reports of hail and severe weather as well, and just generally unsettled. Last night (Sunday, July 15) thunderstorms raced across the St. Lawrence Valley and into the Valleyfield area around 9pm, with spectacular lightning, hail and heavy rain.

This pattern will continue again this week in Ontario, at least till Friday. Temperatures will be in the mid-twenties, with the threat of showers each day.

The west is a much different story. A large ridge of high pressure building in from the desert southwest will push very hot air into parts of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Temperatures are expected to soar into the 30's and approach 40C by the weekend over Saskatchewan and Montana. Keep cool! Along the boundary of warm air, thunderstorms produced golf ball and baseball size hail in Alberta today.

The east will warm up into next week I believe. That is little comfort for those who have tried to camp, or swim on the five weekends so far this summer. Each one has sported below normal temperatures and rain. So far, next weekend looks good...keep your fingers and toes crossed!

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