Much cooler and less humid air arrives in southern Quebec

Lightning is believed to have sparked this fire in Derby, Vermont near the border with the Eastern Townships. Strong thunderstorms Wednesday brought an end to the heat and humidity across the entire region. (WCAX 3 News)

My vacation week is slowly melting away, not much going on this year as life has kept me from my usual trek to a beach...any beach. The heat and humidity that started the week has been chased out by Wednesday's cold front. Depending where you were in the region, that front either went through with a whimper or a bang. Thunderstorms in the early part of the day swept eastern Ontario, Montreal and southern Quebec with around 10-20mm of rain and frequent lightning. The storms managed to cut power to nearly 30,000 homes mostly off island in Vaudreuil/Dorion as well as in Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry County, Ontario. What had been a sultry night with temperatures in the middle 20's quickly became refreshed with the frontal passage. The same front produced heavy thunderstorms in Vermont and New York that cut power, knocked down trees and started several fires in homes. The storms were also responsible for yet another person injured by lightning this summer, this time at a campsite in Waddignton, New York near Massena.

The front pushed the hot weather to our south and east with highs only in the middle 20's in Montreal yesterday. Meanwhile the high heat was across Atlantic Canada with several record highs recorded as the mercury hit 30 to 32C. This morning Montreal is dry and much cooler at 17C (63F), quite a change from the low 30's of Monday and Tuesday. It will be a dry day with a northwest breeze and highs near 24C (75F). Clear and cool conditions expected tonight with lows around 14C (56F). Friday and Saturday look good with sunshine and highs near 26C (79F). We will see an increase in clouds on Saturday followed by a chance of showers late in the day and into Sunday. Sadly it looks cloudy, showery and cooler as we head into the last week of July. Another pool of much cooler than normal air will cross the Great Lakes and become established by early next week.