Weather details presented in the above posting are still mostly valid for the Canadian display day. Therefore, I present here the expected conditions for the greater Montreal area for Saturday, July 20th:
Temperature/Humidity
As a hot and very/near-extremely humid air mass continues to affect Southern Ontario to Southern Quebec until July 21st, temperatures will ubiquitously reach and surpass 30 C by mid-afternoon (already close to that by mid-morning). For the greater Montreal area, a maximum temperature of 31-32 C is likely by the mid-afternoon period (provided minimal interference from rainfall). With very high humidity, a maximum humidex of 43 C is favorable. As very high humidity continues into the evening period, temperatures will not be liable to drop significantly, remaining at 28-29 C by late-evening (humidex of 38-39 C), including display time (if rainfall occurs persistently, then 25-26 C – humidex of 35-36 C). This will continue into much of July 21st.
Precipitation
As mentioned previously, a shortwave trough and weak cold front will be affecting this area by the early-afternoon period. These lifting features will be the focus for scattered thunderstorm coverage during the afternoon (40% probability). Due to the dynamics present in conjunction with the hot and very humid air mass, there is reason to believe that some thunderstorms will be capable of becoming better organized during the afternoon period, and so there is potential for stronger thunderstorms during this time. This may encourage a severe thunderstorm watch. That said, while instability further increases into the evening, convective coverage appears to decrease slightly to isolated (i.e. 30% probability), including during display time. Thus, while the thunderstorm risk will remain, the thunderstorms/convective rainfall should be sparsely distributed, although a few of these may still be strong during the evening and overnight period in this environment. Otherwise, skies should be partly cloudy for the evening, mostly consisting of clusters of vertically defined cumulus. Distant lightning is also possible during the evening.
Wind
Winds are still expected to be breezy (occasionally gusty) for the day, from the SW. Speeds of 24-28 km/h are likely, with occasional gusts of 38-43 km/h. By late-evening, wind speeds do diminish slightly but are still somewhat breezy (which would provide a little comfort for those who are not a fan of high heat and humidity). Speeds of 13-17 km/h (occasional gusts of 27-31 km/h) are favorable for the evening, including display time. This would allow the smoke to displace reasonably quickly, but also towards right-hand sections of the La Ronde audience, causing the display to appear hazy from there. This is especially true because of the very high humidity encouraging rapidly expanding smoke, despite the smoke clearing fairly quickly. High-altitude smoke, however, should be moving towards the La Ronde audience somewhat more directly (right-hand and partially central sections) and at a slightly faster pace. *Should thunderstorms occur, then the smoke would be moving towards the La Ronde audience more directly.
If necessary, another update will follow by this mid-afternoon (July 20th) to address convective potential, as well as wind speed/direction.
Trav.
