It’s been a warmer September than usual so far in Montreal

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It’s not just you. September truly has been warmer than usual so far in Montreal, Environment Canada data shows.

The average temperature currently stands at 18.9 degrees, which is 3.4 degrees higher than the typical average.

But the month isn’t over just yet, meteorologist Michelle Fleury said. “We’ll have the official data only on the first day of next month.”

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Meanwhile, a daily temperature record has already been set: Sept. 16 saw a high of 31 degrees, breaking the previous record of 30.6 set in 1939.

Fleury attributed the warmer weather so far this month to a ridge of high pressure that hovered over the province for a long period of time, pushing out other weather systems, what’s called a “block pattern.”

“A block pattern means that the progression of the systems from west to east is very, very slow,” she said. “So during this time, there was a low-pressure system somewhere west of us and east of us on each side of the ridge of high pressure, but this entire pattern was progressing so slowly that we call it block.”

At the same time, “it’s been very dry,” Fleury said. “It’s not the driest September in history, but it’s among the 10 per cent driest Septembers.”

That’s likely welcome news to Montrealers, who just experienced a historically rainy August. It was both the rainiest season ever recorded in the city and the rainiest August, in large part due to post-tropical storm Debby. The city received 229.3 millimetres of rain in August, breaking the previous record of 224.8 millimetres set in 2011 and representing double the typical amount for the month.

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At the time, Environment Canada said the summer had been unusually hot across Quebec. It attributed the unusual values to intense heat waves involving both high temperatures and persistent humidity, notably at the end of July and beginning of August.

In its summary for the month of August, the agency said it expected temperatures to hover around seasonal values in September, with the possibility of slightly higher values in northern and easternmost regions.

Rain is expected over the next few days in Montreal, Fleury said, but daily highs are expected to climb above 20 degrees after that.

“The seasonal value for this time of the year is 17 degrees for the highs and seven degrees for the lows at night,” she said. “The lows will be around 11 or 12 degrees this week in Montreal.”

Environment Canada is expecting temperatures to remain slightly above seasonal values heading into next month.

“The ensemble model forecast for October, they show that we can expect some up and downs, some colder periods, but in general, the average … is expected to be slightly above seasonal values,” Fleury said. 

She noted it’s still too early to comment on the rest of the season. 

kthomas@postmedia.com

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