The atmosphere yesterday was like being in a blast furnace. It was extraordinarily hot, humid at 34-degrees-Celsius and with a UV index standing at 10. The saving grace, we felt, was the wind, which gusted nicely at times, offering some relief.

Despite the sizzling heat, we went into the ravine for our usual walk in the afternoon. And it wasn't bad at all, in there. The canopy provided excellent shade, as expected, and the wind managed to gust through the woodland very nicely indeed. So it was a pleasant walk, one we didn't cut especially short, although our little dogs were feeling the heat so we proceeded slowly.

The weather was forecasted by Environment Canada to result in a thunderstorm or two by night time. With a 30% chance of pop-up storms, none of which actually transpired. That is, until dinnertime. When the sky did its change-over from mostly clear with the sun bubbling brightly, to a fairly rapid overcast condition, with dark clouds finally turning the house interior dark.

We were seated at the table, having our dinner, relaxing and enjoying the stillness of late Sunday, when we suddenly - and I mean suddenly - became aware that something had changed dramatically. The wind had come up in a way we seldom see. It was straining against the canopy that covers our deck, and we could see the trees beyond leaning perilously.

We hurried over to the front of the house to exit onto the porch and watch as the rain came tumbling down. But it was the action of the wind, bending the trees to its will, that fascinated us. Later, we were to learn that the wind that grasped a left-open garden umbrella one neighbour had forgotten, and floated it over the trees and into the ravine.

A maple tree and an ash on another two neighbours' lawns came to grief when main limbs, severing the trunk, were felled, the trees left wounded with great white gashes instead of the healthy specimens they represented just moments before. Anything that was not secured went flying about in the wind. Ornamental shrubs were flattened.

And at LeBreton Flats, downtown Ottawa, Bluesfest was summarily interrupted by a sudden, unexpected wind followed by lighting and thunder. The wind managed to collapse the huge stage which performers had only moments before exited, having from their height on the stage, viewed the oncoming storm heading down the Ottawa River. Three people sent to hospital, with broken leg, spinal injury, cuts - nothing life-threatening.

Thousands panicked and sought shelter within the nearby War Museum. Electricity was cut to tens of thousands of households in the Ottawa Valley. Throughout the night sheet electricity lit up the sky as thunder rolled and rain continued pelting the area.