Perfect late summer weather for Montreal

With the exception of a little fog on Saturday morning, it was nearly a perfect weekend in southern Quebec. We managed to squeeze out a high temperature of 30C on Sunday, one of the few recorded this summer. The high pressure responsible for this late summer perfection will slowly slide southeast of the province today with nothing but sunshine and warm temperatures forecast. We can expect a high of near 30C (86F) in Montreal with 28 to 31C (83-88F) across the region. Another mild overnight is on tap with the return of a heavy dew and perhaps some local fog patches and a low near 18C. Tuesday will be an exact replica of today. The next chance for precipitation will come along a frontal boundary on Wednesday with showers and perhaps a thunderstorm possible.

Over the weekend western Canada was dealing with a strong low pressure area more similar to late fall than summer. Cold temperatures occurred and heavy rain fell from southern Alberta into Manitoba. Amounts were in the 50-75mm range with some minor flooding reported. It was the same to the south of the region across North Dakota and Montana. Northeast Montana is reporting flooding along several rivers this morning. There was even snow observed at the highest elevations in northern Wyoming and northwest Montana.

Tropical Storm Cristobal
Tropical storm Cristobal developed in the Caribbean Sea over the weekend and is located about 180km off the coast of San Salvador Island in the Bahamas. The storm is moving slowly north at 6km/h with 85km/h (50mph) winds The system is forecast to strengthen into a hurricane this week, but remain offshore of the US and Canada. Heavy surf is expected along all east coast beaches this week. Strong winds and heavy rain have prompted tropical storm warnings for a portion of the Bahamas today.

Widespread damage was reported in the wine country of the Napa Valley on Sunday after a 6.0 earthquake. (CNN)

California Quake
The strongest earthquake in 25 years occurred early Sunday morning near Napa, California northeast of the San Francisco Bay area. It occurred at 3am Pacific time with a magnitude of 6.0 on the Richter scale. Widespread damage occurred with the partial collapse of several buildings as well as numerous fires ignited by ruptured gas lines. Over 150 people were injured, several seriously. Aftershocks have been reported for the last 24 hours.