A funnel cloud appeared in the sky just south of Penticton, Wednesday, May 3, 2023.

Image Credit: FACEBOOK/Jeneane Chouinard

Photos and videos of what appears to be a funnel cloud in the skies just south of Penticton were circulating on social media earlier this week.

Princeton resident Jeneane Chouinard spotted the funnel, May 3, and snapped a photo. Since then others photos and a video have been circulating on social media.

Meteorology enthusiast Joey Onley shared the photo and a video of the weather phenomenon on his popular Facebook page Interior Weather & Wilderness Watchers.

Onley is the administrator of the page where members report weather activity and share photos.

“A funnel cloud is potentially a tornado trying to happen,” Onley said. “There are other explanations for what it might be, but experts weighed in and we think its safe to call it a funnel cloud. The topography probably induced that event, it has the look of the other ones I’ve seen in B.C.”

Onley uses radar data to watch the weather but relies on his members for more information.

“We watch a storm on radar while people on the ground are talking to me and sending me photos,” he said. “In this case the radar wasn’t showing a telltale sign of the funnel. Without people on the ground we wouldn’t have all the information, weather watchers are a community."

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Onley calls himself a "comedeorologist" as he combines meteorology with comedy on some local radio shows with a couple of others, along with Shaw cable and on his YouTube channel, all of which he broadcasts from his home in Barkerville.

“We bring comedians and meteorologists together on a panel and talk about weather with funny angles, like the science of how much the weather sucks,” he said. “It’s a way to see how the weather is doing across the country, but with lots of humour.”

Onley grew up in central Ontario where there were he said there were lots of spectacular weather events.

“I had a close call with a lightning strike when I was little and I felt the heat of it,” he said. “At age 20, I got a ground shock from a strike. The first strike made me terrified but I refused to hide from it and my love for weather kept developing.”

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At one point he was travelling the country with a musical group and would make stops to see different weather events as they went.

He's always out in the weather working as wildfire firefighter. He said after getting a reputation for predicting weather patterns, he started the Facebook page. The page did so well, he started the YouTube channel.

“During fire season I was predicting when the fires would break out, when the hottest and driest times would happen and when thunderstorms were about to roll through. Having meteorology skills is appreciated on a fire crew."

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