Image Credit: Pexels/Mark Vegera

Kelowna has only received 46.7% of its normal precipitation in the eight months from November through June.

And June was the second driest on record with only 5.1 millimetres of rain. The driest June was in 2012 when 4.7 mm of rain fell.

Normally June is the wettest month of the year with 45.9 mm of rain falling in Kelowna. From November through June there was 132.4 mm of precipitation in Kelowna where normally there's 283.6 mm.

And, normally, forest fire season really takes off at this time of year. It was different this year with an early start that has already made this the worst wildfire season in Canadian history due to larger fires in northern BC, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia. At the same time, the Kamloops Fire District has been relatively quiet.

READ MORE: Rising temperatures, forecast lightning in Thompson-Okanagan worries wildfire officials

That changed on the weekend with the Knox Mountain wildfire near downtown Kelowna. Given the dry conditions, it took off quickly, forcing a brief evacuation of hundreds of homes and growing to 6.5 ha before being brought under control.

The City of Kamloops had a much wetter June due to more thundershowers, Environment Canada meteorologist Yimei Li told iNFOnews.ca. It had 11 mm of rain compared to a normal of 37.4 mm so it was only the 15th driest on record.

Similarly from November through June Kamloops got 131.1 mm of precipitation, or 75.4% of its normal of 173.8 mm.

Penticton received 74.2% of its normal precipitation over the past eight months, recording 176.9 mm compared to a normal of 238.5 mm. June was a different story with only 2.3 mm of rain falling, making it the driest June on record for the South Okanagan city.

Vernon had its fifth driest June on record with 11.2 mm of rain falling compared to a normal of 59.1 mm. Over the past eight months it got 61.8% of its normal rainfall of 330.2 mm, having 204 mm of precipitation falling.

READ MORE: Campfire ban set to return in Kamloops and Okanagan regions

This week promises to be hot in Kamloops and the Okanagan but not at the heat warning level. In order for warnings to be issued the daytime highs have to be 35 Celsius or above with nighttime lows of 18 C or more.

Kamloops is looking at highs only up to 34 C this week with overnight lows of 16 C earlier in the week but rising to 18 C later in the week.

In the Okanagan, highs are expected to only reach 33 C with overnight lows in the 15 to 17 C range.

There are some clouds in the forecast later in the week.

“The ridge of high pressure is moving towards northern BC and Yukon,” Li said. “Thursday and Friday, there is a slight troughing for southern BC, which gives a chance of showers and possibly thunderstorms in the region as well.”

That may prove to be bad news for northeastern BC where the Donnie Creek wildfire, the largest in BC's history, continues to burn out of control. It has now covered more than 571,000 ha.

Despite the dry conditions, much of BC is still in the moderate to high fire danger range, with hot spots of extreme danger scattered throughout the province but, mostly, on Vancouver Island and the West Coast and a large area of northwestern BC but lightning is expected throughout much of the province over the next few days.

This map shows extreme fire danger in red, high in orange and moderate in yellow.

Image Credit: Submitted/BC Wildfire Service

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