Warm end to summer for Montreal - 500,000 lose power in B.C. windstorm

MONTREAL WEATHER

Despite the calendar indicating summer is coming to an end, southern Quebec and metro Montreal are in for a warm and humid stretch of weather. High pressure will bring us lots of sunshine with increasing heat and humidity throughout the week. Temperatures will range from 27 to 31C (81 to 88F) with warm overnight lows of 17 to 20C (63 to 70F). These conditions are forecast right into Labor Day weekend. At this time the only chance for any precipitation may be Wednesday afternoon with a shower or thunderstorm possible.

A worker surveys a crushed car in Vancouver on Saturday. (CBC)

A fierce windstorm slammed the southern B.C. coast on Saturday with winds gusting to 100km/h. The combination of strong winds, a full canopy of leaves on the trees and drought brought down thousands of trees on power lines, cars and homes. One woman was seriously injured in Surrey when she was struck by a falling tree. B.C. Hydro reported nearly 500,000 without power at the height of the storm Saturday, most of those in metro Vancouver. That number has dropped to 90,000 this morning with crews working non-stop to remove trees and repair poles and lines. Damage will likely run into the millions of dollars if the pictures are any indication.

Vancouver on Saturday. (Photo: Jarett Kemp via Twitter.)

ERIKA and FRED
Meanwhile it was a busy weather weekend in the tropics with 5 separate systems. Two storms were in the Atlantic with three in the Pacific. Tropical storm Ericka moved across Cuba will weakening rapidly. This morning she is nothing more than a summer rainstorm soaking south Florida with up to 100mm (4 inches) or rain. Erika devastated the tiny island of Dominica on Friday with flash floods and mudslides killing at least 20 with 50 missing. On Saturday Fred developed and became a hurricane in the far eastern Atlantic. This is the first time a hurricane has developed so far east. Hurricane Fred is located 55 km south of the Cape Verde Islands this morning with 80mph winds. It is unlikely that Fred will affect North America at this time as it is expected to remain out at sea.