The fire situation across western Quebec and northern Ontario remains critical, with hundreds of fires burning. In Quebec, there are 180 active fires according to SOPFEU. Firefighters are already assisting in Quebec from New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Alberta and British Columbia. An additional 18 firefighters will arrive from the Untied States, with 43 from France.
With the wind this week predominately from the north and west, smoke should drift across the central Great Lakes and into the upper Midwest. Smoke from Alaskan wildfires is drifting across northern Canada adding to the poor air quality across the west. Montreal should remain on the eastern periphery of the smoke for now.
The weather will turn cooler with some rain across the fire region as low pressure moves well north of our region across Ontario and Quebec. Here in the southern part of the province, we can expect a seasonable week, with highs in the middle 20s and lows in the teens.
Some shower and thunderstorm activity is possible on Tuesday into Wednesday morning. The threat for severe weather is low this week. Otherwise expect sunny skies.
The hot and humid weather will remain in place across the central portion of the United States this week giving southwestern Quebec and southern Ontario a break.
Along the US Gulf Coast, a weak tropical storm is expected this week. Early Monday morning, tropical depression 2 was located 180 kilometres south of Panama City, Florida, with 55km/h winds. The storm is forecast to become tropical storm Bertha this week, while slowly moving northwest towards the Louisiana coast. Very heavy rain from coastal Florida to Texas will be the main threat with this system.