GTA breaks temperature record

Andrew Kaczmarek of Mississauga took advantage of the warm winds on Cherry Beach Friday  to do a little kite surfing.  Photo by Bernard Weil/Toronto Star

Toronto was the hot spot in the country on Friday, smashing the GTA the record by almost three degrees, said Environment Canada.

The GTA hit 30 C before noon, a temperature that was expected to rise throughout the day.

The hottest Sept. 24 on record was in 1968, when the mercury hit 27 C.

Usually higher than seasonal temperatures in the fall season are expected, “but to beat the record as early as 11 a.m. is really something,” said David Phillips, senior climatologist for Environment Canada.

“We’ve had it reach 30 C on Thanksgiving in the past, which is normal in the fall as the weather system changes,” he said.

Phillips said the sunny weather with fewer clouds than expected icaused the high temperatures.

But don’t to put away the warmer clothing yet. There is a 60 per cent chance of showers later Friday that will cool the temperatures, ushering a cold front that will produce highs of 17 C on Saturday and single digits Sunday morning.

The increasing temperatures during the Friday will only make the colder weather expected on the weekend more of a shock, Phillips said.

- Daniela Germano, Staff Reporter

Igor kills 80-year-old man in Nfld.

Storm drains were unable to cope as heavy rains from Hurricane Igor hit St.John's, N.L. on Tuesday, Sept.21, 2010.  (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Daly)

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Police in Newfoundland say high winds and heavy seas continue to limit the search for an 80-year-old man swept out to sea during hurricane Igor.

RCMP Sgt. Boyd Merrill said Wednesday an eyewitness has confirmed the incident where the road beneath the man collapsed on Tuesday in the Random Island area, about 100 kilometres northwest of St. John's.

"The man was actually standing there with another person when he was swept away so that witness, his relative, gave the report to us," said Merrill.

Merrill said locals continue to search for any sign of the man but outside help can't reach the area.

"There's no way to get to Random Island, physically we can't get there," said Merrill. "The sea is too high, the wind is too strong and there's no road."

Meanwhile, Premier Danny Williams will visit various communities to survey the extensive storm damage.

At least 30 communities, including Clarenville and Marystown, have declared states of emergency because of flooding caused by the storm.

In Marystown, Mayor Sam Synard said Tuesday more than 200 millimetres of rain fell in 20 hours, washing sections of road into the sea.

At the height of its fury, Igor packed a peak wind gust of 163 kilometres an hour at Sagona Island.

Dozens of roads were washed out during the storm, which left around 50,000 utility customers without power at times.

The Burin Peninsula was cut off from the rest of the province after a bridge leading to the Trans-Canada Highway was damaged.

--The Canadian Press

High winds from hurricane Igor topples trees in St. John's. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Paul Daly)

Hydro worker killed in overnight storm

 
Hydro crews gather along Mayfield Rd. in Bolton on Sept. 22, 2010, after 12 utility poles were toppled or snapped in half during severe overnight storm. JIM WILKES/TORONTO STAR

A Westario Power worker died following an accident in Port Elgin late Tuesday evening after a storm ripped through southern and central Ontario.

The man’s name was not immediately released by Saugeen Shores Police.

He was working at a hydro station at Bruce and Catherine Sts. and was taken to Southampton Hospital but died as a result of his injuries, police said.

The Ministry of Labour and the coroner’s office are investigating.

Meanwhile, a stretch of Mayfield Rd. in the south end of Bolton remained closed Wednesday after 12 hydro poles toppled during the severe storm overnight.

Ontario Provincial Police said poles came down between Peel Rd. 50 and Coleraine Rd. around 3:40 a.m. The road will remain closed while Hydro One does repairs.

About 3,000 customers in the area are without power as a result, Hydro One spokeswoman Danièle Gauvin said Wednesday.

Many businesses also faced outages this morning, including fast food restaurants, which either offered a stripped-down menu or had staff wave away cars from entering their drive-throughs.

Hydro crews were working to repair or replace the 12 downed power poles but said they were having trouble locating replacements quickly.

Environment Canada meteorologist Geoff Coulson said nearby Pearson Airport reported a wind gust to 106 km/h around 2:15 a.m.

Winds of that type, said Coulson, would be capable of knocking over power poles and causing other damage like power outages.

“Once we start to get wind gusts of around 90 km/h or more is when we start seeing trees being severely damaged or hydro poles starting to come down,” he said.

Coulson said conditions are likely to remain unsettled into Thursday with showers and the possibility of thunderstorms. However, he said severe conditions — with wind gusts reaching 90 km/h or more — are unlikely today.

Also last night, as a storm roared through cottage country, a man was seriously injured and a woman was taken to hospital with non life-threatening injuries after a tree fell on their car in Port Sydney.

Officers closed sections of Highway 141 due to downed wires.

Hydro One’s Gauvin said late Wednesday morning that 38,000 customers around the province were without power, with the biggest disruption being in the Georgian Bay area, where about 20,000 customers faced outages.

Hydro One has more than 200 crew members on the ground as well as helicopters working on the cleanup and repair effort, but the damage is extensive, Gauvin said.

She said most of the restoration is expected by late this evening but some customers, especially cottages, will have to wait until tomorrow.

The storms began in cottage country around Lake Huron and Georgian Bay and moved into Guelph, Erin, Kitchener, Cambridge and the GTA.

Hydro One’s online power outage system has also reported power outages in Mississauga, Newmarket, Mount Forest and Markham.

There were also minor power outages in Toronto near Finch Ave and Bayview Ave.

With files from Hayley Kelman and Jim Wilkes

Fall colours expected to be 'spectacular'

 

Conditions are set for a spectacular, Technicolour display of fall foliage over the next few weeks, according to weather experts. (CARLOS OSORIOS/TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO)

After the great summer we’ve had, get ready for “nature’s bonus.”

That’s how David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment Canada, describes the season when leaves turn fiery red, deep burgundy, orange and burnt sienna.

With the first full day of autumn arriving Thursday, there is nothing to suggest anything but “a spectacular” viewing season in the coming weeks, Phillips said.

The conditions this summer have laid the groundwork for an ideal season, which should peak in southern Ontario just after Thanksgiving Day on Oct. 11.

All summer, we’ve had lots of sunshine and an ample supply of rain.

“The trees are in great shape and showing no distress,” said Phillips. “If there’s been drought, leaves will turn brown and fall early. Trees don’t even like smog, so this has been a perfect season for them.”

The warm temperatures all summer have warmed the Great Lakes, meaning the colour change season will be a little bit delayed this year.

Though the long-range forecast suggests we might see a touch of frost, it won’t be a killing frost that can lay bare all the glorious colours.

“Everything is working towards making this the most spectacular, Technicolor season we’ve seen in a long time,” Phillips said.

Of course, the other end of the equation is that lots of sunshine will allow the leaves to show off their brilliance in a blaze of glory.

“The weather for viewing is almost like the frame for the perfect picture,” Phillips said. “We’re going to see rain this week, but we won’t see any remnants of hurricanes or wind storms.”

Nothing wrecks a fall colour change season like wind, rain and frost. Except for some rain this week, no frost or gale-force winds are on the horizon.

Colours are affected by a variety of elements, such as daylight hours, elevation and latitude. Colour changes come quickest at higher elevations and the further north you go.

Currently, we are seeing small pockets of change in northwestern Ontario towards Thunder Bay and Kenora, according to Ontario Tourism’s website parksreport.com. In Central Ontario, the Parry Sound area is reporting just the odd tree with small pockets of orange and red.

There is hardly any colour change in the GTA.

To view a live report of the colour changes in Ontario and to see the peak viewing times for various parts of the province, log on to Ontario Tourism’s website www.parkreports.com/fall.

 --Curtis Rush, Staff Reporter

Toronto on pace for second-warmest year on record

Like a runaway locomotive, Toronto is steaming toward the second-warmest year on record — and the No. 1 position is clearly within striking distance.

Right now, we’re sitting at No. 2, but by only the slimmest of margins.

From January to Sept. 19, the average temperature has been a relatively toasty 11.6C.

We trail only the 11.7C average recorded from January-December in 1998, says David Phillips, senior climatologist at Environment Canada.

The normal temperature for January to Sept. 19 is 9C.

“This is the second warmest such stretch in Toronto’s history,” Phillips said. “We’re on a roll here.”

He speculated that only an unexpected cold snap will stand in our way from breaking the record by the end of the year.

“You almost need a cold front to come through and last until Christmas to prevent this,” Phillips said.

With the first full day of autumn landing on Thursday (officially it arrives on Wednesday at 11:09 p.m.), Phillips doesn’t see anything in the Environment Canada models to suggest we can’t break the record.

He’s calling for a warmer and drier fall than normal, and preliminary models suggest that winter will be warmer than normal.

However, don’t expect winter to be as tame as last year, he said.

“Last year winter wasn’t postponed. It was cancelled,” Phillips said, recalling that Toronto recorded the lowest snowfall on record dating to 1937.

He said he expects winter will come back “tougher” than last year, but not by much.

Looking back, this past summer didn’t set any temperature records. Yet Phillips called it a “Goldilocks” summer with temperatures that were not too hot and not too cold, with the average temperature (June to Sept. 19) coming in at 20.5C. Normal is 18.5C for that time period.

What stood out were the number of hot days over 30C.

“We had 25 days when the temperature climbed above 30 and the normal number is 14,” Phillips said.

Phillips doesn’t expect Toronto will see a day above 30C for the rest of the year, but the days leading up to fall look pretty good.

Temperatures for the rest of the week are expected to be normal to slighter higher. On Tuesday, we could eclipse 25C, when normal is 19. But by the weekend, temperatures will fall closer to normal.

But people in Toronto aren’t used to normal, the climatologist added.

“When you come through the summer we had, normal seems tough,” Phillips said.

From Curtis Rush, staff reporter

Nova Scotia, Newfoundland brace for Igor

 

A boat is swamped with water at Flatts Inlet in Smith's parish while Hurricane Igor comes ashore in Bermuda, Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

HALIFAX—A tropical storm watch was issued for parts of Newfoundland early Monday as a weakening hurricane Igor brushed past Bermuda.

Igor, which was barely a Category 1 hurricane, pelted Bermuda with driving rain and powerful wind, but there were no early reports of major damage.

Environment Canada posted the tropical storm watch for St. John's, the Avalon Peninsula and the Burin Peninsula.

It said Igor would bring strong northerly winds possibly gusting to 100 km/h by Tuesday morning before moderating somewhat by evening.

Igor and an unrelated trough of low pressure could bring total rainfall of 50 to 100 millimetres in most of central and eastern Newfoundland, but the Avalon Peninsula could receive up to 150 millimetres.

Environment Canada said swells of up to two to three metres ahead of Igor would pound the Atlantic coasts of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland for several days.

Meanwhile, Calgary-based Husky Energy started to evacuate two semi-submersible drill rigs working the White Rose offshore oilfield.

Spokeswoman Colleen McConnell said all 88 workers aboard the GFS Grand Banks were removed from the rig by Sunday.

As well, the 110 workers aboard the Henry Goodrich were expected to be airlifted to St. John's, N.L., by Monday.

The company's floating production platform, the Sea Rose, had 88 people aboard on Saturday. Some were removed Sunday and others were expected to follow Monday, McConnell said.

--The Canadian Press

 
High winds and rising surf come ashore at Long Bay Beach as Hurricane Igor approaches Bermuda September 19, 2010. (REUTERS/Kat Jackson)

A reader's ray of hope on a rainy day

Toronto Star reader Amy Thomas shares the story of how her disastrous rainy morning turned out to have a silver lining.

This morning was the perfect storm of disaster. I left the house in the pouring rain, trying to hold onto my tiny broken umbrella, my bag, and re-insert the pacifier into my crying two-month-old's mouth, all while running for the streetcar so that I would not be late for my doctor's appointment.

I switched and got on the bus - and realized it was not in fact the bus I needed, but a bus on a detour from another route. The driver called to me that I needed to get off, so I leapt up and got off the bus.and left my bag on the seat beside me! In the bag was my entire life - my house keys, all of my ID, all of my son's ID, my credit cards and money.

I realized my mistake immediately, and yanked out my phone. It was almost dead.

To top it all off, my husband is out of town and the neighbours have been away all week, so anyone with an extra key was not around. And I am supposed to be on a train to Montreal at 9 tomorrow morning!

I went into the Sherbourne Health Centre and burst into tears. The staff leapt into action. One receptionist stayed with me, while another called the TTC, who were no help at all. I was told they would only be able to tell me if the bag were brought to the Lost and Found at 2 p.m. tomorrow. One of the nurses, Jason, brought me into a room and took down all the necessary information about the bag. He called the TTC and found out the route of the bus, and what time it was expected at each end.

He then proceeded to jump into his car, and chase down the bus with my purse on it! And he found it!

He was able to return the bag to me intact. Not a thing was missing!

I would like to acknowledge the kindness and compassion of the staff at Sherbourne Health Centre, and Jason in particular. I was desperately in need of help and they went far beyond the call of duty to help fix a mistake they had no part in making. And in doing so, proved that there are heroes among us, disguised as ordinary health workers!

Amy Thomas

Karl upgraded to hurricane

Fishermen try to secure their boats as tropical storm Karl arrives in the town of Mahahual, southern Mexico, Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2010. (AP Photo/Israel Leal)

MIAMI - Karl has become a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico after dumping heavy rains on the Yucatan Peninsula as a tropical storm.

A hurricane warning was issued Thursday for Mexico's coast from Palma Sola to Cabo Rojo. Also, a tropical storm warning has been issued for the coast for north of Cabo Rojo to La Cruz and for the area south of Palma Sola to Veracruz.

Karl's maximum sustained winds are near 120 km/h. The National Hurricane Center in Miami says additional strengthening is possible and Karl could approach major hurricane strength before reaching Mexico's coast.

Karl is located about 500 kilometre east-southeast of Tuxpan, Mexico, and is moving west near 19 kph.

The Associated press

Toronto to get a 'good soaking'

It’s not a good day to be stuck without an umbrella — Environment Canada says the Greater Toronto Area will be getting a “good soaking” Thursday.

Meteorologist Geoff Coulson says between 15 and 25 mm of heavy rain will be falling throughout the day, thanks to a low pressure system moving over southern Ontario.

There is also a risk of thunder and lightning in the afternoon, with some areas in province receiving up to 40 mm, although the GTA will likely not see that much, Coulson said.

On top of the rain, today’s expected high of 16 C is lower than the average seasonal temperature of 20 C, making it feel extra chilly.

Torontonians will have to suffer through the day, but showers are expected to taper off by the night, with cloud cover lingering until Friday evening.

The widespread rainfall comes after what Coulson says has been a “relatively dry” September.

And although it may seem like the month has been especially cool — it’s still summer for five more days, after all — he says temperatures have been hovering around normal for September. Higher than normal heat at the end of August just makes it feel cool in comparison, he said.

“That really got people’s expectations up, I think.”

But the city can at least look forward to a mild fall and early winter.

Preliminary Environment Canada forecasts predict a warmer than normal October, November and December.

- Wendy Gillis

Good weather makes good wine

Spencer Wynn/Toronto Star file photo

Winemakers across Ontario are toasting one of the best seasons on record after Mother Nature blessed them with almost perfect conditions this summer.

The buzz is so loud you can hear the clinkling of glasses from Pelee Island to Niagara-on-the-Lake to Prince Edward County.

“I’ve never seen this in 25 years,” enthused Bruce Nicholson, winemaker at Inniskillin in Niagara-on-the-Lake. “We’re going to have world-class wines coming out of this year.”

The growing conditions were near perfect, with lots of sunshine and ample rainfall.

Last year was wet and 2007 was extremely hot.

“I’ve been in Canada for 10 years and I’ve seen nothing like it,” echoed Philip Dowell, winemaker at Angels Gate Winery in the Niagara region.

“And I’ve heard from other growers who’ve been here longer, and they’ve seen nothing like it.”

Debbie Zimmeran, chief executive officer of the Grape Growers of Ontario, said 2002 was very good too, but what characterized this season is the “quality of the grape.”

Although growers like to say that it’s never perfect, nobody is complaining.

Bruce Nicholson, winemaker at Inniskillin, said people and machinery are out at work right now taking in the rich harvest, starting with the Pinot Gris grape variety.

With new techniques and advanced machinery, the winemakers are hoping this season will set them apart from other international harvests, where the growing season wasn’t quite so spectacular as it’s been here.

“What’s great about this season is that the weather has given us the ability to pick on our own terms this year, not when we have to,” Nicholson said.

The season got off on the right foot with an early start to the season when the buds burst in mid-April.

Sometimes, growers are nervous to see an early spring because a frost by Victoria Day can destroy crops.

But it didn’t happen this year.

As a result, growers are starting to harvest their grapes with ideal conditions of warm days and cool nights.

Normally, the bulk of the harvest is carried out in October and November.

The current crop will yield wines that hit the shelves months from now.

What’s this bountiful harvest mean for the consumer? “The wines will be a higher quality and more consistent,” Gowell said.

It’s won’t be the biggest season for tonnage. In fact, last season produced a larger crop, according to Zimmerman. “This year is distinctive for the exceptional quality,” she said.

And the weather could still spoil the party. A September frost is what growers fear now.

But Gowell said it’s unusual to have a September frost in the Niagara region.

Although the “mood is good,” among growers, Gowell said winemakers would still like to see more consumers choosing their wines over the foreign wines.

“We’re still competing in an international market,” Gowell said, “and many Canadians are still choosing foreign wines. Hopefully we can get more local consumers choosing the domestic product.”

-Curtis Rush