Corresponding to the wind section above, though wind speeds are somewhat subsiding from what they are this afternoon into the evening hours, I am still detecting sustained speeds around 14-16 knots (26-30 km/h) with occasional gusts from 35-40 km/h for this evening in and around the island of Montreal until at least 11:30 p.m. Because of the Southwesterly tendency (pushing towards right portions of the audience at La Ronde, and potentially towards central sections at times), I am concerned about delays as possibly gusty winds would not be ideal for the fireworks to be set off safely if winds persist in the specified range. It is possible that there are points where suitable wind speeds are present in between the general wind flow (which is sometimes the case), however, so we may have a break at 10:00 p.m., though I cannot guarantee anything.

For all other weather conditions, please refer to the above post as everything stated there still holds truthful.

Trav.

Now we have a divergence in the forecast for Saturday:

Environment Canada: Saturday Periods of rain. High 22.
Meteo Media: Saturday Cloudy with sunny breaks High 27
Weather.com: Saturday Morning showers. Highs in the low 80s

So it's two-to-one for good weather versus bad.

Trav: we're relying on your for the final word!

Paul.

Following the heavy convective showers and thunderstorms associated with the cold frontal wave duo for today (Friday) in both Ontario and Quebec, I'm calling for partly cloudy conditions to prevail with the risk of some lingering (very) early morning widely scattered showers for Saturday (a little more sun as the day progresses). It should be noted, however, that even with the passage of these cold fronts, because they are not quite as powerful, humidity will not completely vanish, and so it will continue to feel into the high 20s C during Saturday evening with borderline moderate-high humidity present (mid 30s C for the day with the humidity). Temperatures are similarly staying steady into the high 20s C during the day (I believe 28 C during the day) while remaining around 23-24 C for the evening hours (as much as 25 C in the Metropolitan area). I am a little more glued to winds because of the tendency, but I still need to ascertain both the wind speed and direction. I can safely say that winds will be light (7-10 km/h), but when high pressure is present, direction typically becomes a little more erratic - models indicate, so far, variability between the South-Southwest to straight Westerlies (Westerlies and West-Southwesterlies seem to be the dominant tendencies outside Montreal). As such, the potential is there for the smoke to be blowing towards portions of the audience at La Ronde.

I'm a little surprised with Environment Canada's current forecast for Saturday (today is fine), though I suspect they will soon alter the conditions enough so that they resemble what the other forecasts are stating. Relative humidity/saturation values at the surface and aloft are quite low for much of Saturday, and this is attributed to an area of high pressure gradually moving in behind the cold fronts from the West, suppressing precipitation. Available energy for thunderstorms is also quite low, and that is to be expected with high atmospheric pressure.

Although very warm temperatures coupled with high humidity are expected to continue for the upcoming week, the cold fronts coming through today will certainly be enough to put an end to this extreme heat wave, even though it saddens me greatly to see it go (that may come across as sounding crazy). To qualify as a heat wave, temperatures must attain 32 C (regardless of humidity) or more for at least three consecutive days. Clearly, we have more than met those standards this past week across many areas of Eastern North America (record-breaking in some cases), and the models did a fantastic job predicting the heat wave nearly a week in advance (around the time when I had first identified its existence).

In any case, showers and thunderstorms are possible today (some of these t-storms again could become quite severe in Ontario and Quebec despite the cold fronts not being as strong). In that respect, it is interesting to note how a (nearly) similar atmospheric setup is occurring almost a year after Hong Kong/China's performance.

I will finalize these conditions later this evening (especially for winds), but what was stated here should serve as a general guideline.
----------------------------------------------------------
Here are some photos of some distant thunderstorms that I took yesterday (the 8th of July). The first shot (notice the anvil/hammerhead) is looking roughly 60 km Southeast, and the second is towards the Northwest at about the same distance. All storms are moving at 30-35 km/h from the Southwest to the Northeast. The third photo is from the day before, where a thunderstorm affected the extreme Western portion of the West Island and Vaudreuil (we received some showers with that here). Needless to say, the airmass is quite unstable.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/Rain12/CIMG2851.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/Rain12/CIMG2853.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/Rain12/CIMG2840.jpg

Trav.

Hey guys,

At 12:56, my area recieved such powerful rain and thunder. I'm working at 3 and I'm still unsure how I will be getting there.

It's weird how, for about four consecutive days, the weather has been extremley hot (30-35 degrees if not more in some locations). Global warming is seriously taking huge effect on our weather this year. I still look outside, people complain about the weather, and there's always traffic. If they are took their bikes to work like alot of people do, then we'd have nothing to complain about.. Well I hope the rain stops, the thunder seems to be getting louder and louder and it feels like the earthquake we recently had not long ago. Hope everyone is safe from floods in the regions of the storm.

Pat

What is stated in my above post still stands firmly, though I will be a little more descriptive about wind tendency. To reiterate the information from the previous post, here are the conditions that I believe will be mostly prevalent today (Saturday) and during the evening.

Temperature/humidity

Following a possible record-breaking heat wave, temperatures will very likely continue to reach the very high 20s Celsius today (I again believe about 28 C, though this depends on how much sun is present), while evening to late evening temperatures should stay steady around 23-24 C (as much as 25 C in the Metropolitan area). Humidity levels are leaning more in the "high" category, so it will continue to feel more like the mid 30s during the day to very low 30s C by late evening. I don't believe overnight lows will drop below 20 C. Temperatures will eventually head back into the low 30s C through the week, potentially generating another heat wave, though not to the same extent as what we just experienced. Heat waves have also been present in parts of Europe and China.

Precipitation

As expected, heavy convective showers and thunderstorms (many of which were severe, which generated isolated flash-flooding) have raced through much of Southern Quebec yesterday, including here in Montreal (have a look at some of the footage I took way below). As the principal cold front has now advanced further East, an area of high pressure is migrating from the West, permitting for gradually more fair conditions. As a result, we should see a little more sunshine as the day progresses with continuing partly cloudy skies. Available potential energy is actually abundant for t-storms, but that is only because the air is still so humid. Relative humidity values, by contrast, are low both aloft and near the surface, so I do not anticipate precipitation development today and this evening - the further East/Northeast you advance, the chance becomes greater.

Wind

The complete opposite of last week. Winds are, as mentioned above, exhibiting very light speeds (such is to be expected under the influence of high atmospheric pressure), which does not bode too well when relatively high humidity is present. Newer wind model simulation runs from yesterday and this morning suggest speeds of 4-7 km/h this evening, and it seems that directional tendencies are variable from between the West-Southwest to Southwesterlies, so smoke may at times be affecting central areas of the audience at La Ronde, as well as those towards the right end, in particular, as the smoke often blows very slowly in that direction. Rapid smoke accumulation may sometimes become problematic typically when the display starts to increase in pace at any given level if the winds remain in the specified range combined with the high humidity. Winds are generally variable in both speed and direction in and around the island of Montreal (i.e Westerlies for the Western portion of the island, Southwesterlies towards the Eastern parts and Southerlies towards the Eastern Townships), but are very light during the evening hours regardless (a little more breezy during the afternoon at 10-13 km/h).

That's the way the weather should generally behave for both today and this evening. To sum it up, we should be witnessing an evening that possesses high humidity, very light winds and partly cloudy skies.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
It's weird how, for about four consecutive days, the weather has been extremley hot (30-35 degrees if not more in some locations). Global warming is seriously taking huge effect on our weather this year.

Temperatures have consecutively been at or above 30 C for about a week, though the more oppressive humidity started flooding into Ontario and Quebec as of Monday, prompting, as I suspected, high heat alerts, humidex advisories as well as smog advisories. Overnight lows this past work week have also accomplished an incredible feat of not dropping below a value of 24-25 C for four consecutive days. Although it is not uncommon to witness heat waves in Southern Quebec, this particular one comes across as being unique due to its intensity, endurance and consistency, not only with respect to daytime highs, but overnight lows as well. A heat wave of this magnitude, technically, was not experienced since July of 1987 (though I believe we slightly surpassed that heat wave), just before the Great Flood that July.

Global warming is seriously taking huge effect on our weather this year.

The effects of global warming/climate change in terms of temperature increases cannot distinctively be detected in an individual year-by-year basis as there is often too much variability at this scale level - if that were the case, then last year's overall cool Summer and previously harsh Winter would not be consistent with this interpretation. Climate change (namely recent climate change), rather, can be manifested in a longer established period of time, such as during decadal cycles or multi-decadal to century cycles, where a more defined trend can be visualized while having inter-annual variability (but the overall trend is demonstrating warmer temperatures). However, it is to my belief that global climate change will increase the number of El Nino events (as well as the number of moderate-strong ones) in the years to come, which is conducive to warmer Summers and particularly warmer Winters.

I still look outside, people complain about the weather, and there's always traffic.

Just wait until Winter arrives and see their reaction.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Here are a couple of photos I took during the storms (one being composite radar imagery) as well as some complementing video. Grumbling/vibrating thunder can be heard occasionally in both videos, but you can certainly hear the winds and the heavy rains. We had some sparse flooding here in the West Island.

Radar imagery:

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/Rain12/CIMG2884.jpg

Storm entry:

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/Rain12/CIMG2879.jpg

Videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ267_bX-ng

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqZTm7AHGpg

Trav.

Trav, thanks for the weather reports! I measured 68mm rain fall during the three storms we had where I live - pretty extreme for what was probably less than 60 minutes of rain!

What's the URL you use for the radar overlay on the bing maps?

Paul.

Hi Paul,

Indeed, the total rainfall amounts recorded at many weather stations in Southern Quebec yesterday afternoon were most impressive. Though Environment Canada has reported roughly 41-42 mm of rain from the afternoon-evening period, there were undoubtedly locally much larger accumulations, as was the case for both our areas. I experienced five storms yesterday afternoon in my area, all of which dumped incredible amounts of rain (the videos being indicative of that). Funnel clouds were also reported (some good wind shear present), but no tornado touchdowns confirmed this time around. The flooding was the biggest concern with these powerful thunderstorms, especially because they were heavy multi-cell thunderstorms - one storm after the other.

Here are the radar imagery URLs that I commonly employ:

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/maps/caqc0142?ref=topnav_weat her_maps

http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/radar/index_e.html

^^^
Both can also be used for lightning detection.

NOAA's variety of radar maps are also very useful (especially Doppler radar) as they provide more advanced options in the ability to track relative storm/system speeds and direction and assess more accurate reflectivity measurements, which are read in "DBZ" units - DBZ being decibels (DB) as a function of the radar reflectivity factor (Z), where the higher the "Z" value, the greater the initially emitted beam of energy from the radar is being scattered by the target (precipitation) before returning as a form of echo to the weather station for analysis. Potentially strong thunderstorm activity and heavy rains are indicative when this energy is highly scattered, and therefore showing up on radar as the red color values displayed in the legend there:

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/radar_tab.php

No problem for the weather reports. Always a pleasure.

Edit: Speaking of thunderstorms, there is the slight risk of one (pop-up, not frontal) this afternoon, only because of the large convective available potential energy still present. The evening is still safe, however.

Trav.

Severe weather once again threatened many parts of Southern Quebec late this afternoon, including one powerful t-storm that mostly affected the South shore of Montreal and skimmed the Southern part of the island. Though the storm did not affect us directly here in the West Island, we were certainly still faced with strong winds (I recorded gusts of up to 67-71 km/h) coming from the powerful downdrafts of the cumulonimbus (thunderstorm), enough that electricity was cut in our area for one hour's time - it became quickly chaotic on the roads as traffic lights were down in a ubiquitous fashion. The core of this severe thunderstorm was located about 15 km to the SE of my residence and was moving slowly at about 30 km/h from the SSW to the NNE.

Here is a video I took of the storm, which mostly depicts the strong winds:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OybNofP_57A

And some photos:

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/Rain12/CIMG2920.jpg

^^^
This was taken around the time the storm was beginning to lose its energy, but the strongest of storms were centered roughly 60 km to the NW and WNW along the Quebec-Ontario border - the line of thunderstorms there consists of severe multi-cell thunderstorms forming ahead of a cold front (which still has not completely gone through yet - hence the continued risk for tomorrow).

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/Rain12/CIMG2906.jpg

^^^
The above photo illustrates the flanking line of the thunderstorm. Flanking lines are lines of massive cumulus clouds that develop along the outflow boundary as a result of convergence between warm, moist air ahead of the storm and the dense, cold air descending rapidly from the storm's core towards the warmer air, creating a distinctive boundary - the outflow boundary. Flanking lines have a tendency to also form when the moisture/humidity content (dewpoint readings) near the surface are particularly high. The series of cumulus clouds associated with the line tend to feed on the warm updrafts of the storm, and the stack/tower of clouds forming closest to the parent storm eventually grows taller on the vertical (more mature) and gradually merges with it (see the following picture). Cumulus clouds along the flanking line can also become separate thunderstorms with time, forming a cyclic multi-cell thunderstorm complex.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/Rain12/CIMG2908.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/Rain12/CIMG2909.jpg

^^^
This is a picture of the turbulent updraft area of the storm. Precipitation scarcely falls from this region of the thunderstorm because the rapid (sometime violent) upward motion of air currents keeps rain droplets suspended. Turbluent skies indicate powerful updrafts. Mammatus clouds also later appeared on the underside of the anvil, as shown in the following picture. Mammatus clouds are commonly associated with severe thunderstorms, but have been known to appear with regular storms as well. Mammatus clouds, though the most captivating to weather watchers and photographers alike, often warn of a vigorous storm, and indicate that the thunderstorm has reached optimal maturity. They commonly form through a process called "reverse-direction convection", in which moist air (usually from the updrafts) of the storm convects into the cooler, drier air beneath the anvil often through turbulent eddies, forming these brief magnificent and distinctive globules of cloud beneath the anvil:

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/Rain12/CIMG2915.jpg

And finally, the anvil crown showing off in all its glory as the storm departed:

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/Rain12/CIMG2918.jpg

Tomorrow afternoon (July 13th), as well as this coming Friday, are when we need to keep a watchful eye on the weather as the potential for severe thunderstorms exists (not a certainty, but rather that conditions are ideal for them to develop) - the reason being similar in that cold fronts are colliding with the hot and humid airmass ahead of them while there is a fairly large amount of energy available for thunderstorms. July-like temperatures and humidity will continue to persist regardless.

Trav.

To touch on my closing paragraph above, a very active cold front is currently moving towards Eastern Ontario and Southern Quebec into the very early morning hours tomorrow (Friday) and through to the mid-afternoon period, bringing with it possibly heavy convective showers and scattered bands of thunderstorms (some of these could very well reach severe criteria). Once the front moves through by late day, humidity levels will drop somewhat, but very warm temperatures will persist as a returning Southwesterly flow gradually moves in.

The area of low pressure affecting tomorrow (Friday) will also play some role for Saturday as well, as it is exhibiting signs of slowing due to an area of blocking high pressure stationed over the Labrador Sea. As such, though the cold front will have already gone through, I believe showers and single-cell scattered thunderstorms could develop during the early morning to mid-afternoon hours - the scattered nature of these storms is typically accompanied by 30-40% P.O.P. Things should, however, gradually improve later in the day and into the evening with partly cloudy skies, although I still want to keep a watchful eye as there is still a fair amount of available energy present for convective showers, as well as fairly high relative humidity values from the surface to the air aloft. Air temperatures during the late evening are likely 24-25 C (as much as 25 C in the metropolitan area) with borderline moderate-high humidity, making it feel into the very high 20s and very low 30s C.

I'm keeping a watchful eye on the winds as they could be reaching close to strong standards (sustained and gusts) both Friday and Saturday (primarily Saturday afternoon) due to a steep air pressure gradient between high pressure over the Atlantic (a typical Bermuda High) and this area of low pressure centered over central Quebec. I believe that winds should subside somewhat by the evening hours Saturday, but still relatively breezy nonetheless. I would like to, however, still examine the later model simulations when they become available so to monitor evening tendencies. Regardless, winds are likely out from between the West-Southwest and Southwest, so smoke will typically move towards right, and at times central sections of the audience at La Ronde.

I'll provide a final update later tomorrow evening to finalize these conditions.

Trav.

What was stated in my above message still holds mostly truthful for tomorrow (Saturday), but I will now provide some additional details after revising the later weather prognostics. Here is what to generally expect for tomorrow through the day and into the evening hours.

Temperature/Humidity

Although the cold front has moved through just recently setting off heavy rains and thunderstorms, a secondary front is slowly advancing Eastward associated with the same low, which has slowed down. Consequently, temperatures will continue to be sustained into the very high 20s (possibly hitting 31 C) for daytime highs Saturday while remaining in the mid 20s for late evening (again, about 25 C in the metropolitan area) while humidity levels will continue into high to potentially very high standards, and so it will feel like the high 30s C during the day (potentially 38 C) and the low 30s during the evening hours (likely 30-31 C). Once the next cold front passes tomorrow evening, moderate humidity levels will take over for Sunday.

Precipitation

In reference to the cold frontal wave passing through for the day tomorrow, convective showers and thunderstorms are certainly possible. Additionally, because the air is so buoyant, typical scattered single-cell airmass showers and storms (as mentioned previously) are possible earlier in the afternoon with an increased risk during the mid-late afternoon as the front draws closer. There is a good amount of energy available for thunderstorms during the late morning to early evening hours, and relative humidity values are reasonably high at 60-70% over the course of this timeframe, so the risk is there for the early evening period as well. I would accompany the showers and thunderstorms with a 30-40% P.O.P due the scattered nature (60% by mid-late afternoon). ***Please also note that some thunderstorms could reach severe standards due to the atmospheric dynamics. A reminder that this setup does not necessarily imply that the entire day is a washout (most of the day will actually be pleasant), but rather that conditions are conducive to the development of showers and storms – in fact, some areas may get away without seeing a drop of rain, whereas others will witness loads of it.

Wind

Wind tendencies are nearly similar in both speed and direction as what was experienced today, just a little stronger. The windy conditions are persisting simply because again the same low pressure area is slowing down, so we’re still under that tight pressure gradient. The strongest of winds will endure through the afternoon hours at sustained speeds as high as 32-35 km/h and wind gusts of up to 55-58 km/h (particularly between 2:00 and 6:00 p.m. EDT). Speeds should subside to 19-22 km/h by the early evening and progressively less thereafter. With respect to direction, Southwesterlies will continue to grip the afternoon hours, but I believe there will be a gradual shift from the WSW by the late afternoon-evening period (due to the front), and so smoke will principally head variably towards right and central sections of the audience at La Ronde.

That’s the way the weather should generally behave. To recap, breezy WSW winds along with high humidity and temperatures at or close to the mid 20s C (feeling like the low 30s C) for Saturday evening. Risk of showers and thunderstorms, mostly for the early evening period (30-40%). I’ll continue to monitor wind speeds for the evening hours and provide an additional update if necessary, but if I don’t, everything should be alright. For the most part, if things play out the way I think they will, wind speeds should be at safe standards in time for the fireworks and the showers and storms will have moved to the East by that time as well.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- ----
And here is some footage depicting the "heavy convectional showers/t-storms" I spoke of for today - this was a late-afternoon brief thunderstorm that went through, and man, the resulting rains were the true definition of "heavy".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xeE-27lEg0

Storm entry:

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/Rain12/CIMG2945.jpg

Storm departure (move away from your screen a little to fully appreciate the first two shots):

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/Rain12/CIMG2951.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/Rain12/CIMG2947.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/Rain12/CIMG2958.jpg

Trav.

As I suspected, a severe thunderstorm watch was appropriately issued for much of Southern Quebec, including here in Montreal until early this evening (which is consistent with the available energy I was detecting from this morning stretching towards early this evening). The cold front is still showing signs of slowing, so although I do indeed believe that most of the bands of showers and thunderstorms (including those that are severe) will have passed by the time the fireworks are set to start, there is still time for the possibility of lingering scattered showers and the odd t-shower to persist for the duration of the evening (30%) until the front completely passes through towards the East and Southeast - otherwise, partly cloudy skies. Regardless, have an umbrella handy in case of anything.

Winds should still be subsiding by the early evening, though again sustained between 10-12 knots (19-22 km/h) with occasional gusts of up to 31-35 km/h (as compared to the 55-58 km/h gusts this afternoon). Later in the evening, winds should be more in the 16-19 km/h range, which is moderate.

For more details, please refer to my above post. I was also most delighted to see that my above video was shown briefly on TV on The Weather Network this morning!

In any case, typical July weather for today.

Trav.

Thank you, Trav, for this relevant update.

I haven't seen your video on the Weather Network, but we will maybe see you there to deliver us the fireworks forecast on air. I remember from a previous post that you have graduated this year (congratulations!). What are your next projects? I suppose that you would like to work at Environnement Canada or something like that, would you?

Fred

Un couple de Montréal a été brutalement frappé par la foudre, samedi soir, a confirmé Urgence-Santé.

L'homme, qui a subi un arrêt respiratoire, était toujours dans un état grave à la fin de la soirée, sa compagne a subi de sérieuses brûlures.

L'homme et la femme dans la quarantaine s'étaient réfugiés sous un arbre à l'angle des rues Notre-Dame et Frontenac pour se protéger de l'orage alors qu'ils se préparaient à assister aux feux d'artifice.

Le drame est survenu vers 19h45.

Plusieurs résidants du quartier ont donné les premiers soins aux victimes qui ont été transportées dans deux hôpitaux différents.

Cyberpresse

Hi Fred,

It's no problem that you were unable to catch my video while it was on the air on The Weather Network two days ago. If your images/videos are selected, they are briefly displayed between 47-49 minutes past the hour, before the national forecast every half hour, or sometimes appearing during the weather news segment, which are 10 and 40 minutes past the hour. Your videos or pictures are also usually shown either during the day in which you took them or early into the next day. All images/videos need to be a little rushed in order to stay within the allocated two or so minutes in these segments, but they do briefly highlight the important aspects that were specified in your accompanied description(s). Speaking of which, more of my footage and images (which I'm about to share here below) were briefly displayed on TV both yesterday morning and afternoon. The on-air presenter simply stated: "Not surprisingly, we received more footage from Trav today (now yesterday) showing the severe weather on Saturday that went through his area in Montreal's West Island". That was a little unexpected.

I remember from a previous post that you have graduated this year (congratulations!). What are your next projects? I suppose that you would like to work at Environnement Canada or something like that, would you?

Indeed, I have graduated this past Spring (the convocation falling nicely on the first day of Summer ). I am planning on pursuing a Master's degree in climatological studies so that I may conduct and organize research down the line, but I will likely soon work as a climatologist and/or forecaster (perhaps as an on-air presenter, or simply preparing weather forecasts behind the scenes) for Environment Canada or The Weather Network in the very near future. Working in a meteorologically-oriented field also opens avenues in environmental planning and management, so I may consider those as well. Finally, I am additionally thinking strongly on joining a storm chasing team, not just for the pleasure of it, but for research purposes as well.

I thank you very much for your kind wishes. And, as always, it was no problem in providing the weather reports.

Hi Enkil,

Thank you, once again, for sharing that article. While parked on De Lorimier, we saw two ambulance trucks racing across the street, not knowing that they were likely headed for that awful incident that had occurred closeby to where we had been stationed. I just pray that the affected couple (both in their late 40s, as was recently disclosed) will make a quick recovery.

I cannot emphasize it enough that people should never, EVER, seek shelter underneath a tree during a thunderstorm. The way a CG (cloud to ground) lightning discharge typically works is that its generated path (the invisible stepped leader) follows a channel of least electrical resistance once the insulating layer in the atmosphere is broken down after the electrical field is sufficiently built. Consequently, this suggests that lightning often targets elevated objects because the channel created between these objects and the cloud is shorter and requires less air to travel through (and therefore less energy to take form), leaving taller objects obviously quite vulnerable during thunderstorms. More importantly, when the charge buildup between the cloud and the surface becomes progressively larger, the positive charges distributed along the surface, which follow the storm like a shadow, commonly tend to move up along taller objects, making a potential strike much more likely at these points.

The safest place to be during a thunderstorm, regardless of severity (all thunderstorms are characterized by having at least one lightning discharge, after all), is an enclosed building (preferably with plumbing and electrical wiring that would conduct the electricity efficiently) or your vehicle (also must be enclosed with a metal frame). Contrary to popular belief, the car's tires play a very little role in ensuring your safety - rather, it's the conductive outer metal frame that administers the protection, where the electric current will likely be diverted around the passenger area through the metal covering of the vehicle and safely into the ground. In order for a lightning discharge to take place, an unbelievable amount of charge buildup between opposing charges is required since again the atmosphere is a very good electrical insulator. With this in mind, since a lightning bolt is fully capable in overcoming the highly electric-resistant properties of the atmosphere, it can undoubtedly overcome the resistance of a few inches of rubber.

***I will happily go over all basic lightning safety tips if anyone requests them, but I'm sure that everyone here is a fair understanding of them all. Even though lightning typically goes for elevated objects for the reasons described above, there is no guarantee that you will be safe from lightning even if you are well away from them as lightning possesses a very capricious nature. Simply put, as long as you can hear thunder, you are always at risk of being struck by lightning if outdoors. The lightning strike in Montreal was not the only lightning-related incident as, tragically, a 25-year old man was killed while at a water park in Ontario the same day, and a firefighter also suffered some injuries.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------
And the video footage I took (I realize that they're lengthy, but I will highlight the main features and where to find them):

Cloud to ground strikes of the evening storm Saturday before I departed for the fireworks (when you get to 3:43 and 4:28, try pausing the video to see the spectacular form of those discharges).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBW9BFZWThM

Thunderstorm just past lunch time (thunder can be heard throughout, but lightning strikes can be seen from four minutes into the video and onwards):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmHBDHfJNq0

Another storm later that afternoon (very haeavy rains start around 4:20 with marble-sized hail pelting on the window by 6:20):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Sq4Gir6G_g

Loud thunder (zoom to 40 seconds to hear it):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeYDqSbHUvE

Some photos (evening storm):

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/Rain12/CIMG2991.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/Rain12/CIMG2999.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/Rain12/CIMG2997.jpg

Multi-cell thunderstorm to the Northwest (notice the principal storm with newly developed cells side by side in the first photo, the one on the right being a new mature cell):

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/Rain12/CIMG2983.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/Rain12/CIMG2988.jpg

Heavy rains (notice the sewer there cannot handle the rain):

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/Rain12/CIMG2977.jpg
---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------
Slight risk for thunderstorms this evening - heavier storms depending on how much sun is present this afternoon, but I do not anticipate anything of the sort that we had seen Saturday.

Edit: An F0 tornado was also confirmed by Environment Canada near St-Jerome that day.

Trav.

Showers and thunderstorms are a possibility for tomorrow (Saturday, July 24th). An area of intensifying low pressure is slowly moving Eastward from Ontario and progressively for Southern Quebec for later today and through to Saturday. For today, the system's warm front will bring us some periods of showers and isolated embedded t-showers later in the day today, while the associated cold front will be affecting Southern Quebec mid-late Saturday, bringing with it isolated bands of convective showers and thunderstorms, some t-storms of which could be reaching severe standards in the later afternoon hours and early evening (my principal focus) partly due to the large amount of available convective potential energy present. The system has also had a history of producing severe weather. Things should begin to improve by early Sunday morning with some lingering showers, though brisk WNW winds will develop later in the day. Temperatures Saturday evening still maintain the mid 20s C (nearing 30 C for daytime highs) and likely 24-25 C in the metropolitan area, but the humidity will be high to potentially very high standards until the cold front passes through. Preliminary showers and storms are possible into the afternoon as well following lunch time ahead of the frontal wave, but the chance would go up slightly as the afternoon progresses

Winds are still something that I'd like to monitor, but the average direction is Southwesterlies through the day with a possible shift to South-Southwesterlies by late day, which would be ideal as smoke would move to the right of the audience at La Ronde. I will continue to watch directional tendency as the system's motion/speed can change in the next 24-36 hours. Speeds are light regardless, though a little more breezy during the day itself.

I will, as always, provide a final update to confirm these conditions this evening.
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Here is some video I wanted to share of last night's thunderstorm, which was a rather pleasing way to end off my birthday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2kvsuxi_cU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fHpcLk6wL0&feature=related

And a nice forked lightning I captured:

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/Rain12/CIMG3068.jpg

Trav.