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March 06, 2018 - 5:29 PM
Old man winter may be fading into regular spring temperatures around the Southern Interior later this week, but he left quite a mark on the region last month.
The amount of snowfall in Kamloops, Kelowna, Penticton and Vernon in February was much higher than normal. In Kamloops alone, the total precipitation in February was up more than 400 per cent on the 30-year-average.
There were 20 days of snow in Kamloops last month, Environment Canada meteorologist Lisa West says, during which 50 centimetres of snow fell.
It makes the snowiest February since 1937 and a far cry from the eight-centimetre average snowfall the city usually gets in February.
West says when looking at total precipitation for the month of February, this year was more than 417 per cent higher than the norm, making it the fifth-wettest February on record.
Kelowna's climate station is not quite as accurate as Kamloops, and it's just north of the city. Even so, the city recorded 56 centimetres of snowfall last month over 14 days.
"The number of days will be less than what the official observation from the airport would be," West says.
Climate stations can see and record measurable amounts, but may miss days where there were only trace amounts of snow.
Total precipitation in the city for the month of February was approximately 133 per cent higher than normal.
Numbers were highest in Vernon, which recorded more than 62 centimetres of snow over 15 days, as recorded by the climate station. Total precipitation was roughly 159 per cent higher than normal.
Snowfall reached about 24 centimetres over 15 days in Penticton, with total precipitation approximately 161 per cent higher than normal.
"Comparing total snowfall in February of this year compared to what the average has been over the last 30 years, we're definitely much higher than normal," West says. "We didn't quite set records for the snowiest winter, but came close in some areas."
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