Summer returns, but only for a day!!

It's like Mother Nature flicked a switch and Summer returned. A large area of low pressure to the north of the region was responsible for the warm southerly flow of air that boosted temperatures to well above normal values across the Golden Horseshoe and for all of Southern Ontario for that matter. Several area saw temperatures above the 30°C mark today. Winds were also an issue as they gusted upwards of 70km/h at times during the afternoon hours.

Damage in the Sarnia region due to
strong winds on Sept 7th.

That was enough to cause a tree to fall on a van in the Sarnia area today along with other minor damage to older trees that may have already been weakend from the winds that whipped across the region last Saturday. Winds were generally in the 40 to 50km/h range during the afternoon across most of the area, however some higher gusts were reported in all areas.

As the cold front raced eastwards during the afternoon some thunderstorm activity fired up ahead of it. Severe thunderstorm watches and warnings were issued for potions of Southern Ontario, but the GTA was spared. Frequent lightning and strong winds were the main things being reported by these storms as they moved through. There seemed to be a break in the line of storms over the Golden Horseshoe as not a drop of rain was observed from Hamilton to Toronto.

 Taking a look at some of the temperatures around the region for today....

Toronto		Hamilton
30°	16°	29°	17°
London		St. Catharines
29°	17°	31°	20°
Extremes Across Ontario Today         32°C           1°C Windsor Nagagami

The warm temperatures will be short lived as a cold front approaching from the west will erase the humidity and the heat and replace it with much cooler and drier air. The atmosphere will remain a bit unstable on Wednesday however as the cooler air rushes across the warm waters of lake Huron and Georgian Bay. This will create some "Lake Effect" showers downwind of the lakes and will likely stretch far inland as well. Some of these scattered showers will reach the Golden Horseshoe area during the afternoon. Temperatures will only make it into the mid teens on Wednesday, but it will feel much cooler with the winds and overcast conditions during the afternoon hours. 

Temperatures in the longer range are expected to be close to or slightly below the normals for this time of year. No large temperatures swings are apparent on the computer models for the next 10 days at least.

Looking at some international news...

The tropics are fairly quite (relatively speaking) since we are in the peak of Hurricane season. Here is a look at the topical systems currently in play. Tropical Storm Hermine came on shore along the Texas coast with torrential rains being the main threat causing some flooding in the areas. Max winds were around 100km/h as Hermine made landfall. The remants of Tropical Storm Gaston continue to move westwards and have the potential for re-generation as it enters the very warm waters of the Caribbean.

Flooding in parts of Australia is threatening 300 properties in Shepperton and residents are preparing for the worst. The state premier warns that the floods are not likely to ease over the next 7 days.

Ariel shot of the flooding in Shepperton, Australia