Morning briefing: Four things to know about Tuesday

Tuesday, July 8, 2014, 7:32 AM - With the summer in full swing, summer-like active weather has been more than prevalent in Canada the past few weeks.

Here's what it brought on Monday, and what's to come today.

Post-Arthur outages lingering

The Maritime provinces are still grappling with Arthur's after effects, three days after the one-time hurricane hit Nova Scotia as a post-tropical storm on Saturday.

The storm brought pounding rains to New Brunswick and driving winds in Nova Scotia, but although those are a memory, tens of thousands of people remain without power, with some having to remain in the dark until the weekend.

Around 70,000 customers were still without power in New Brunswick, but even with around 200 crews out and about, as many as 17,000 may have to wait until Saturday for full restoration.

In Nova Scotia, the number of outages were at 20,000 by Tuesday morning, with repairs expected to continue until Thursday.

That province is in for thunderstorms, some already firing up in the morning hours along the Fundy coast and parts of Cape Breton.

That same area is in for more chance of non-severe thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening, as is western and northern New Brunswick, where there is a chance for isolated severe storms due to these systems.

Severe storm risk in Ontario

People in southwestern New Brunswick woke up to thunderstorms causing at-times severe localized flooding on Monday.

Another round of storms in the afternoon sparked a series of severe thunderstorm watches and warnings in the south of the province, dropping in the evening.

There are no watches or warnings currently in effect on Tuesday morning, but Weather Network meteorologists say there could be some fireworks in the afternoon and evening, where storms could be more severe.

The Greater Toronto Area and the National Capital Region are both in the area where severe storms are possible.

Check back to our website and tune in to the Weather Network on TV for regular updates on the storms as they approach.

Today, incidentally, marks the one-year anniversary of a storm which caused major flooding in Toronto.

Around 126 mm of rain fell at Pearson Airport, a new record that just edged out Hurricane Hazel in October 1954, at 121 mm.

The resulting flooding left hundreds of thousands of people without power and caused damage resulting in $850 million in preliminary insurance claims.

Prairie flooding continues

Much more serious and widespread flooding continues today on the Prairies, but there are signs of improvement.

Hundreds of people are still out of their homes due to the flooding, brought on by days of torrential downpours last week, but the situation in Brandon, Man., eased on Monday as the Assiniboine slowly dropped from its crest.

But the floodwaters remain high as the crest moves through the province, with Portage La Prairie in the risk zone.

In Saskatchewan, more than 70 communities remained under a state of emergency on Monday, but officials there say the situation is stabilizing.

Tornadoes confirmed in Saskatchewan

Environment Canada confirmed a total of two tornadoes from a series of storms in Saskatchewan on Saturday afternoon, as well as four other reports of tornadoes in that province.

Eyewitnesses captured photos and footage of the two strongest, which hit Kenaston and Outlook.

The Outlook tornado, given a preliminary rating of EF2 with winds up to 220 km/h, was the most destructive, causing serious damage to buildings at a farm.

SEE IT HERE: Watch footage of the powerful twister, captured by an eyewitness.

Two people were taking shelter in two of the buildings when they were struck. Both escaped without serious injury.

The other major tornado, rated EF0 with wind speeds up to 130 km/h,  caused damage to a cemetery at Kenaston, knocking over trees, tombstones and an entrance gate.

Environment Canada says four other tornadoes were reported, but those were short-lived and none caused significant damage 

Two of the tornadoes, near Davidson, were briefly on the ground at the same time, while two others were reported northwest and southwest of Kenaston.

All three Prairie provinces are seeing some non-severe thunderstorm risk for Tuesday.

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