Good morning folks, Summer is just around the corner in terms of the weather calender and now in real time as we look forward to a week of dry, sunny and at times hot weather in the Golden Horseshoe. Haven't been able to post that for some time!

After a very wet spring, record breaking in Hamilton and as Jiries and others have commented approaching record levels for Toronto - this spell of weather can't come quickly enough for most people around here. The gardens need rain but they need sunshine also and this has been on vacation itself for most of the last two months around here. Before the heat starts today, we need to get a warm front out the system which has the potential as EC discuss here to cause one or two big storms later this afternoon and evening :

Forecast of thunderstorm potential.

Today..Scattered non-severe thunderstorms are likely across
Southern Ontario as a warm front moves north.  There is a slight
Risk of a severe thunderstorm over Southwestern Ontario this
afternoon with large hail and damaging winds being the
Main threats. Chance of non-severe thunderstorms over north-Central
Ontario this morning.

Tonight..Slight risk of severe thunderstorms over Southwestern
Ontario this evening with large hail and damaging winds being the
main threats.

Temp currently 19c/66f under fairly cloudy skies looking at a high of 24c/75f dodging the T-Storms later this afternoon. The same front will create one or two strong Thunderstorms into the U.S. with Detroit & Chicago in the firing line. As Graeme posted yesterday nothing as Severe expected as previous weekends from these storms but they will spoil the memorial day weekend barbecues in one or two spots.

For here, temps will continue to rise touching 30c/86f by Tuesday going by EC's latest forecast and staying in the high 70sF / early 80sF all week. Perfect early summer weather at last!

Watched the footie yesterday and as a Man U fan it was a shame to see the chance for another Champions League go by, but sometimes you watch a team in Barcelona and have to say well done. They are something special and from another planet in football terms right now.

Have a great rest of the weekend.

I see T.O. managed to break 30c yesterday (30.4c) so the first 'hot' day of the year. Windsor managed a toasty 32.6c. There's a bit of a cool down underway with 25c expected today in Toronto and 19c tomorrow. Plenty more sun to come though so that will be very welcome given the wet Spring.

The cool down is even more pronounced in Northern Ontario: it was 28.6c in Moosonee yesterday afternoon but this afternoon temps will fall to just 4c!

While a cold front sweeps the heat away from the Great Lakes and NE the south stays hot with upper 90s f likely to feature from Texas through the Carolinas. Washington DC will weigh in at 94f this afternoon.

Good Afternoon all, we got our first official hot day yesterday as temps topped 31c/88f in Hamilton, notable was the humidex upto 41!!! which i can confirm felt very hot without a/c. After such a mediocre spring, to reach 41 on a humidex on the last day of May was quite an event. The cold front that Graeme wrote about earlier has passed with no rain but clearer air as CTV Toronto reports here : http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110601/toronto-weather-heat-110601/20110601/?hub=TorontoNewHome. It's 25c/77f in Hamilton right now, but windy gusting to 60kph taking the feel out the air, humidex is only 31.

Yesterday also saw Hamilton issue a Heat Alert and Humidex warning, the first for the year. And, according to that report posted from CTV forecasters are expecting a warmer than average summer, which if i recall is in direct contrast to Brett Anderson's assessment of how things look to pan out. I haven't seen EC's official lrf yet for the summer so can't say whether CTV are commenting on the Government's own forecast or not.

Also saw a fairly rare event on Sunday evening around these parts associated with the warm front i posted about on Sunday bringing the threat of Severe Weather. A Tornado warning was actually posted by EC for London-Caledonia from 9pm on Sunday as a storm looked to bring rotation with it. Hamilton Munro reported a Heavy Thunderstorm with rain in it's forecast for that hour, i haven't seen that one before! It was Thundery in Dundas and we did get the rain, nothing extrordinary. In Hamilton however a house was burned to the ground and it's 4 occupants plus 6 cats were rescued by the fire department after a bolt of lightning ignited garbage behind the property.

Finally on the weather front, today marks the start of the 2011 Atlantic Hurricane Season. Overall projections show a more active than normal season expected with upto 6 major Hurricane's possible. The first possible disturbance that may make a tropical depression before landfall is approaching FL from the East this afternoon bringing high winds and heavy rain.

Away from the weather i thought i'd bring some stories happening from other fields. Anyone visiting Toronto will know of the TTC and they have invested (finally!) in 70 new subway trains to run initially on the Younge-Spadina line but by 2013 for all other routes in the city and here's a pic :

As well as all the latest technology on-board these trains will have corridor connections and TTC claim upto 10% more ridership space for passengers to move around in. So, hopefully a more pleasant and less sweaty existance than some services currently.

And also, we've got a potential postal strike on our hands which should be fun if it goes ahead on Thursday night. Not sure if Paul is affected in Burlington but Canada Post is definately planning a walkout in the City of Hamilton. Political point here, but given the often strained service that is currently offered although the posties do a hard job admittedly, this will further drive other business options for postal services should the strike action go ahead.

Summer of discontent ahead? Hopefully not! Take Care

Hello folks, hope everyone had a good weekend. Quiet on here of late, hopefully this weather has allowed Paul in Burlington to open the pool as we done on Friday, definately adds to that summer feeling. This week is a short one work wise for me as i stop on Wednesday before heading to Toronto Pearson for the Transat flight to Glasgow overnight into Friday. I know there was a brief warm spell back in Scotland, hopefully it'll come back for next weekend, any ideas Graeme?

Weather here has surprisingly remained warm, if not hot since the high values of midweek. Only blip was yesterday morning when a Severe Thunderstorm rolled into the region and caused quite a stir as the Spec reports here : http://www.thespec.com/news/local/article/542926--severe-thunderstorm-cuts-power-soaks-city. Some contributers commenting on a possible wall cloud in the area, difficult to say as with most intense, short, sharp storms around here the wall cloud is usually just the wall of intense rain - however it may have had a sinister side to it which didn't materilise. Temps therefore down yesterday to 20c/68f and 13mm of rain.

Today, it's glorious again. 25c/77f currently, nice breeze and humidity is low. Ideal conditions for a Sunday and a barbecue dinner this evening is a certainty. Weather looks likely to warm up further into that very warm to hot catergory by midweek again with EC quoting 32c/90f - that's warmer than last week's peak. Staying settled for the most part, indications that as i leave on Thursday one or two showers may be around however.

I'm off for a Molsten or two in the sun. Take Care

http://weather.weatherbug.com/IL/Oak%20Lawn-weather.html?zcode=z6286&units=1

Oh how lovely out there in Chicago right now at 25C last night and 36C so far.  I wish I am there this week as I am going on Sunday when it cooler but warming up but not that hot as this week but thundery.

Afternoon all,

Well it's true Stewart we did have a short blast of summer at the end of last week. In fact here we recorded our highest temperature since August 2006 on Friday at 26.3c (Leuchars reading). That's a distant memory now unfortunately. I spent the last few days in Edinburgh and it was downright chilly. I wish I could say it looked as if you were bringing summer with you but it looks like staying cool and unsettled - if I was you I'd pack accordingly!

Wish you were bringing some of the warmth that is enveloping the Great Lakes today. A projected high of 33c for T.O. which would be the warmest day of the year thus far. This follows on from some severe storms over southern Ontario with golf ball sized hail reported at Goderich. Nice little article with some images from Brett: http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/anderson/story/50731/big-storms-signal-arrival-of-major-heat-1.asp There was actually a tornado warning issued for Hamilton which thankfully didn't come to anything serious. Stewart will no doubt be able to give more detail but in the meantime an article from the Spectator: http://www.thespec.com/news/local/article/544514--high-humidity-follows-heavy-wind-and-rain

I fancy somewhere like London, ON might be the hotspot today in the province - wouldn't be surprised to see a 36c reported. The hot weather should then clear out as a cold front pushed through Thursday leaving a much cooler weekend in store.

It really is hot through much of the southern midwestern and eastern States, with temps in the 90s fahrenheit pretty much everywhere south and east of a line from Boston-Chicago-Kansas City-El Paso. My brother-in-law is currently in the middle of a three week tour of the SW (lucky sod) and the air conditioning in the car will be turned up to the max!

North and west of that line it's much cooler with the 50s and 60s predominating in the High Plains and into the Canadian Prairies. A cool 5c in Regina and Saskatoon right now with highs around 18c today, about 5c below average.

Farther north still the ice coverage on Hudson Bay is now starting to be eroded on the west and eastern flanks: http://www.natice.noaa.gov/pub/ims/ims_gif/DATA/cursnow_usa.gif 

Sun's out here so off to enjoy a coffee in the garden while I can!

Hello all

Many apologies for being offline for so long. We're in the process of buying a house and it's taking up a lot of time. Only a few minutes round the corner so I don't think it's going to affect the weather much (although it will put us only about a quarter of a mile from the lakeshore).

Anyway, after really quite a grim and depressing spring IMO (May was extremely wet, very grey and quite cool on average), we now have summer! As Graeme reports, properly hot, around 30C even before humdity. It's amazing how fast it warms up here, I'd say some of the trees have only been in full leaf for a week 

The other good news for weather lovers (if not for everyone) is that we are having a good number of thunderstorms. A very big storm this Saturday morning, got soaked running 10 yards from the car to a shop. I think we only caught the tail of that one too - looking over to the SW the clouds looked just like a funnel was forming and they might start to rotate. I don't think any tornados actually formed but I've never seen anything like that before. A friend of mine was commenting that there were reports of some damage to property in the Guelph area on Saturday.

And then last night we had another good storm - with the most frequent lightning flashes I've ever seen in my life - it was like strobe lighting in the bedroom. 

The week continues warm with the possibility of more storms. Today is the hottest day thouth and could hit 37 on the humidex according to Accuweather.

http://weather.weatherbug.com/IL/Oak%20Lawn-weather.html?zcode=z6286&zip=60453

Yes now nealy 32C 89F in Chicago after reaching lovely minimum of 25C overnight.  I wish it happening next week but still showing lot of warm to hot weather around and some storms too.

Hello all, on my last afternoon at work for a couple weeks as Scotland draws closer and what a spell of weather to leave on, but more on that in a minute. Graeme, bags will be packed accordingly although gloves might be stretching it abit hopefully i can bring some of this heat with me as i have plans over there which include getting outdoors and i don't intend to get soaked everyday golfing either! And MVH, indeed Molsten Canadian! Exceptional stuff only on par with Fosters IMO, however that's maybe a debate for another time.

As Paul & Graeme reported, big storms last night - scattered across Southern Ontario but one paid a visit to the Hamilton area just after 1am this morning. Intense lightening, gusty winds and heavy rain with it, no hail in Dundas just the power went out and when you waken this morning you see why. Plenty of tree limbs down some onto hydro wires in our neighbourhood and power only just came back on after 11am.

Damage in the area similar to this picture from Ancaster :

Environment Canada are also investigating the storms path but at this time have ruled out Tornado damage just straight-line wind damage as the spec reports here : http://www.thespec.com/news/local/article/544514--tornado-touchdown-investigated. As Paul says, two big storms in 4 days indicate very interesting weather conditions and now someone has turned the oven on full power!

Toronto was at 33c as of an hour ago. Hamilton officially 30c at 2pm local with a humidex of 40. This will increase as the afternoon goes on. Exceptionally humid conditions will likely spawn more strong storms overnight into Thursday as a cold front brings in cooler air and more unsettled conditions around here for the weekend.

I'm leaving all this behind to get back to dreich weather in Ayrshire? Hopefully not, can't wait also to see all the family again and i'm looking forward to seeing Ontario in July this year for a change. Post when over in Scotland.

Take Care

Interesting read Stewart, I really forgot what it like 33C here and 30C indoors as it been 5 years now.  Chicago now 35C 95F. 

More of Canadian, rather than a North american report but I am pleased to announce that today the sea has re-appeared at Kimmirut in the far NE of Canada near Greenland...just 2 weeks time and the length of daylight starts reducing on its descent back towards winter.

http://www.kimmirutweather.com/

Interesting one and it now cold and sleety there.

Hello folks, in Ayrshire under cloudy skies tonight but enjoying my time here even if the weather hasn't been spectacular. Weekend was wet on Saturday and Sunday evening and cold on Sunday night also, i've read somewhere that it's actually been one of the coldest June's for night-time temps in Scotland for a good few years so far.

Pleasant if not overly warm day today, the weather guy on STV said it was positivally warm compared to previous days, guess things have been THAT bad here as i'd say that 16c in Milky skies isn't 'warm'??? Done some golfing and catching up with friends and family as well as planning a weekend in Edinburgh this weekend, headed to your coast Graeme in search for this elusive 'warm' weather!

Back in Canada, things seem to have settled down after last week's fireworks although temps have climbed down also into the high teens. Looks like a 'warm' (lol) day there tomorrow with 25c being forecast and good sunny spells. Showers return for Thursday and Friday with cooler conditions also.

Take Care

Been a lovely sunny day today in Chicago at 26C 78F and and first time to see real warmth since April in the UK.  Forecast is thunderstorms tomorrow so there some action to watch it.  

http://weather.weatherbug.com/IL/Oak%20Lawn-weather/local-forecast/7-day-forecast.html?zcode=z6286

27C today and that the start of the coming heatwave with temps reaching lovely 32C 90F for good 3 days from Sun to Tue and 22C overnight.  Probably that my only time to see those temps for summer 2011 so I have to make most of it in here.

Been down in a rather soggy Manchester for 5 days so just catching up with the NA weather. Glad to hear you are enjoying your trip home Stewart (despite the weather!) and also Jiries that Chicago is providing you with some sought-after heat.

It was certainly a lovely day in Toronto yesterday as I can testify from watching the Jays/Orioles game online. It was a pleasant 25c in Toronto but hotter farther east, with Ottawa and Montreal both cracking 30c yesterday. Out on the east coast of Canada it was decidedly chilly though - Halifax managed just 15c and Charlottetown 12c under gloomy skies.

Talking of sport, the wait for a Canadian winner of the Stanley Cup continues with the Vancouver Canucks losing to the Boston Bruins in Game 7. More shocking though were the riotous scenes in the city after the game - be interested in your thoughts Stewart.

For what it's worth Brett has updated on the ECM seasonal forecast - a warm fall in store for eastern Canada? http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/anderson/story/51088/summer-and-fall-computer-model-forecast-update-1.asp

 Meanwhile Stateside it's more unsettled weather for the Rockies and Midwest and more heat for the south. Texas continues to bake. Lubbock is forecast to hit a high of 107f today. The last five days have seen highs of 102, 104, 104, 98, 107f, with >100f readings likely to persist at least through the weekend. The average high in mid-June is about 90f.

Hope everyone has a good weekend in store!

Hello all, turning cloudy here now in W Scotland after a fairly pleasant day earlier with temps around 17c/63f. Anything frankly is better than what came here on Friday truely abismal weather and a reminder if needed of why i shouldn't complain too hard when we get the odd dreich day back in Ontario. It rained like never before almost, at one stage on Friday lunchtime i had to check that no-one had left a fire-hose on by accident!

Anyhow, it doesn't look like i'm missing too much back in Canada either with fairly non-descript weather and temps above 20c for the past several days with limited sunshine. As with most places, when the sun did come out it seems they had warm, even bordering hot conditions but nothing sustained.

Interesting reaction i thought Graeme to the Canucks getting beaten by Boston, very poor image for Vancouver especially after the hard work done before and during the Olympics last year. Condemned on all sides by what i read and seen, rightly so. Initially i had thought there was a bit of America v Canada involved in all this but it seems the Bruins fans were largely not involved. On a side note, i'm sure the Toronto press had a field day destroying the creditbility of their Western Coastal rivals after they disected the final game loss, however they should remember that at least the Canucks actually made it to the finals in the first place, something that the Maple Leafs are immune from right now!

For me, coming to a close on this trip home and the weather not being that great is a shame but hey ho. I'm hearing indications that there may be warmer conditions on the way for here after i leave which is convieniant! Will try and post later in the week before i go back to Dundas.

Take Care

Arrived Los Angeles this afternoon at 4.30pm, the temperatures was chilly 20C 68F as the airport was partly effected by the sea mist nearby where it might be misty by the coast and west of the airport.  Felt chilly when I got out from the airport terminal because I got used to the heat in Chicago.  It was around 32C 90F in Oak lawn with high humidity when I left there.  Once you are inland away from the coast in Los Angeles it get progressive warmer to hotter, it was 33C today in Burbank but now drop to 18C before midnight.  Also felt the air a lot fresher and dryer than Oak Lawn.

Los Angeles city look run down and many roads are in bad state with dirty side gullies compare to Oak Lawn where it very clean and maintained well.

Taken from the Media discussion thread, since my reply is not about media:

Do they call that a Mexican plume in those parts?

Meanwhile, over at Tioga Pass in Yosemite, which is only a few hours' drive away (I know, because I have done that journey); the pass only opened for the first time since winter last weekend, and there was still about 70 inches of snow on the ground there the last time I looked (http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryF?s=TES will tell you exactly but it's down at the moment).

How's that for a contrast? You've got to love California!

Hello folks, made it back to Dundas just got in here about an hour ago or so. For those on TWO who know of the QEW and 401 merge at Pearson, doesn't matter how many times you travel these roads, it doesn't get any better! Traffic on a Friday lunchtime even, clogged.

Trip home to Scotland was great, all that went missing was the weather! Very wet couple of weeks at times and surely you guys over there deserve whatever summer eventually comes because the last few weeks including my 2, have been very poor in Western Scotland for June. Back in Southern Ontario, currently 22c under cloudy skies - we've already had one or two ligher showers earlier and expecting the risk at least of a heavier, maybe Thundery shower later this afternoon/evening.

Weekend looks like it will get better once we take the slightly unstable air out the way by tomorrow afternoon and temps could reach 27c on Sunday. It seems however, that i haven't really missed much weather around here over the past two weeks, very stable temps, moderate sunshine amounts and nothing overly muggy or hot either by day or night. In contrast, EC have just concluded that a series of Thunderstorms that affected the Ottawa valley area yesterday did indeed produce Ontario's 2nd confirmed Tornado and EF0 of the 2011 season as documented here :

==weather event discussion==

Second tornado of the season confirmed from June 23 storm.

A number of intense thunderstorms affected the national capital area
on the evening of Thursday, June 23. One thunderstorm developed
South of Kanata, then moved over Kanata and across the Ottawa River
to the Aylmer area of Quebec. Several independent photographs or
videos of a tornado were studied by Environment Canada, and in
addition a damage survey team investigated the shirley's bay area
this morning. While no damage was noted, the photographic evidence is
sufficient to justify calling this the second tornado in Ontario for
this season. It is possible that the observed tornado occurred over
the Ottawa River. Due to a lack of observed damage, it is rated as a
Fujita scale zero tornado with winds between 60 and 110 kilometres
per hour. The Fujita wind damage scale goes from zero (weakest) to 5
(strongest). Ontario normally gets around 12 tornadoes each season.
The summer severe weather season runs from late April until early
October.

This statement will be updated if new information becomes available.

This weather summary contains preliminary information
And may not constitute an official or final report.

Weekend off before back to work, a chance to catch up on the Blue Jays and everything else that's been going on! Whatever your upto, make it a great weekend everyone.

Glad you enjoyed your trip home, Stewart, weather aside. You're still not missing much, although we may get into the low 20s today if the sun comes out - this won't be the case in Ayrshire though, I suspect.

Jays doing better this weekend with two wins against a good St Louis team. Will watch Ricky pitch tonight - fingers crossed for the sweep. Incidentally, on the weather-related front, they were lucky to finish the game in St Louis last night before severe thunderstorms hit, dumping 2-6 inches of rain and causing flash flooding: http://www.fox2now.com/news/ktvi-severe-storms-flash-flooding-062611,0,2759642.story Hopefully the storms will have died away before this afternoon's finale.

I see Brett has updated the ECM long rangers again. Not sure why I bother even looking at these to be honest - even in terms of establishing broad patterns they seem to chop and change from week to week. Anyway:http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/anderson/story/51536/weekly-long-range-computer-forecast-update.asp 

Nice week in prospect for southern Ontario, the odd storm or shower here and there but plenty of sun and temps in the mid to upper 20c celsuis, perhaps creeping over 30c late week.

Once again it's the Midwest taking a pounding from severe storms with more risk of flooding. With high pressure and heat to the south and cooler air to the north this area seems to have been the recurrent focus for wet stormy weather for the last couple of months. 

West Texas in particular continues to sizzle. I reported on Lubbock last time and it's still incredibly hot there: high near 109f expected today which would top yesterday's 108f! There's been 13 days with highs at 100f or over this month and we could easily be adding another five days to that total come the end of June.

While you guys having a good hot spell in UK, I will have the same amount on Friday for Oak Lawn, Chicago as they are forecasting 34C and 30C on Saturday with low 20's minimums.

http://weather.weatherbug.com/IL/Oak%20Lawn-weather/local-forecast/7-day-forecast.html?zcode=z6286

Just following up yesterday's post on the heat in West Texas, some amazing readings there on Sunday:

Amarillo 111f (all-time record)

Lubbock 111f (2f off all-time record)

Borgess 113f (all-time record)

Childress 116f (1f off all-time record)

The all-time Texas state record high is 120f from 1936 (the dustbowl years), putting this weekend's temperatures in context. Things should cool off a little today - relatively speaking.

Interesting figures so i think some of that heat will move to Chicago to deliver 35C 95F temps by Friday.  Today is 27C 81F with some rain or thunderstorms risk then sunny from tomorrow onward.  Some rain here this morning but now drying up very quickly.

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/pics/MT8_Chicago_USA_ens.png

Some serious heatwave coming up for Chicago on 1st July before I leave on 2nd July.  Good timing and maybe some possible upgrade on the heat, it was orginally to be 33C on Friday to now 35C. 1 member going for near 28C which could deliver 38-40C in here.