FILE PHOTO

(STEVE ARSTAD / iNFOnews.ca)

After a very cool start to the month of April in the Okanagan and Kamloops, heat records were broken this past weekend.

Back in early April it was so chilly in Penticton, the city broke two weather records for cold temperatures. Kelowna and Vernon all broke heat records on the weekend.

“It was definitely a cool start to the month,” Environment Canada meteorologist Bobby Sekhon told iNFOnews.ca. “This hot weather at end of April definitely kick started the freshet.”

The B.C. River Forecast Centre has issued high streamflow advisories for the South Thompson and Okanagan regions along with other parts of B.C.

“A strong upper ridge that brought hot temperatures across the province is breaking down,” the advisory says. “An upper low is expected to bring unsettled weather and showers today, particularly for the South Interior. Another period of warmer temperatures is expected next week, with well above temperatures expected.”

That has triggered snow melting especially in mid-elevation areas resulting in increased stream and river flows.

Penticton broke the record for the coldest April 4 at -6.1 Celsius eclipsing the previous mark of -5.3 set in 1936. The cold continued the next day, dropping to -6.7 C, breaking the 1929 record of -5 C.

April 29, in contrast, saw three heat records broken in Kamloops, Vernon and Kelowna. Kamloops led the way at 31.6 C, breaking the 1957 record of 28.3 C.

According to Rolf’s Weather, Kamloops had three consecutive days at 25 C or above at the end of the month, the first time that’s happened since 2005. It’s longest stretch of 25 C or above in April was in 1934 when temperatures stayed that high for eight consecutive days.

April 29 was the first 30 C plus temperatures, something that usually doesn’t happen in Kamloops until May 24. The earliest it has happened was on April 17, 1936, and the latest was July 23, 1900, according to Rolf’s Weather.

Kelowna broke its April 29 record by hitting 28.2 C this year. The previous high for the day was 26.7 C in 1968.

Rolf’s Weather, which is based out of Ottawa, does not include postings for Kelowna or Penticton.

Vernon broke two heat records this weekend, hitting 27.5 C on Saturday versus 25.6 C in 1957. It was slightly cooler Sunday at 26.7 C but that broke the 1998 record of 26.3 C. That gave Vernon its second consecutive day at 26 C or above, the third longest run on record. It went four days in 2005.

In terms of precipitation, April was the second driest in Penticton with only 1.8 mm of rain registered compared to a normal of 23.6 mm.

READ MORE: March one of the driest on record in Okanagan, Kamloops

It was the fourth driest for Vernon with 6.3 mm, fifth driest for Kamloops with 0.5 mm and sixth driest for Kelowna with 4.5 mm.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Rob Munro or call 250-808-0143 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. 

News from © iNFOnews, 2023