Monday, September 25, 2017

Record heat surges into Quebec and Ontario

Montreal can expect record heat and humidity through Wednesday. (AccuWeather.com)
It was quite odd this morning, walking the dog through falling leaves while the hum of air conditioners pierced the humid morning. The temperature was already  21C (70F) at 6am, on September 25, in Montreal no less. The normal high should be 17C (63F), Ile Perrot was already warmer. Actually we never dropped below 20C overnight, after a record high of 30.6C in Montreal on Sunday. The high on Sunday shattered the previous record of 26.7C set in 1968. With a humidex or real feel temperature of 40C (104F) and dew points in the middle 20s, it was downright tropical for anytime of the year in Montreal, let alone late September. The 40C humidex reading was the latest in the season such a plateau has been reached. The previous for Montreal was on September 22, 1965.

Widespread Record Highs
Over two dozen record high temperatures were established Sunday in Ontario and Quebec. These included Toronto at 33.6C (92F), Ottawa at 31.8C (89F), Sherbrooke at 29.8C (85F), St Hubert at 30.8C (88F) and St. Anicet and Cornwall at 31.2C (89F). The heat and humidity stretched from the US Midwest across the Great Lakes and Northeast and into Atlantic Canada. The heatwave is forecast to last through Wednesday, reaching 30C in Montreal each day. If this occurs, new record highs will be established on each of the next three days in southern Quebec. A cold front should bring us back to reality by next weekend, when daytime highs will drop back into the teens. There is even a risk of frost and temperatures near the freezing point for overnight lows. So if summer heat and humidity are your thing, enjoy this week.