Frosty night ahead; time to harvest the garden

PENTICTON – What’s left of the growing season is expected to come to an end tonight with forecasters predicting sub zero temperatures in Kamloops and throughout the Okanagan.

Environment Canada meteorologist Bobby Sekhon says a cool day is going to be followed by a chilly night indeed in Kamloops and the Okanagan.

"This morning was an indication of what’s to come over the next couple of days. We’re going to see temperatures of -4 Celsius tonight in the Okanagan, – 5 C expected in Kamloops, with widespread frost expected,” he says.

Wind chills of – 6 C are also expected in the Okanagan.

Thursday night temperatures are expected to warm to -2 C in Kamloops and the Okanagan.

“Friday night will get warmer, but still pretty close to 0 C. The threat of frost may still be there, at least until Saturday night,” he says.

The cold snap doesn’t look like it will break any records in Kamloops or the Okanagan, though.

The record low for Oct. 9 in Penticton is -5.6 C from 1932, with last night's low reaching 1 C.

In Kamloops, the record is -4.4 C from 1919, where last night’s low dropped to -2 C.

“The record low for Kamloops for tonight is – 8.2. C, and for Penticton it’s -8.3 C, it’s a little more extreme, so we’re likely to be shy of record values,” Sekhon says.

Normal high and low temperatures for Vernon, Kelowna and Penticton this time of year are 13 C and 3 C, while Kamloops averages a high of 15 C and a low of 4 C.

Sekhon says the average date of Penticton’s first frost is Oct. 6, while in Kamloops it occurs on Oct. 10.

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