People in Thompson and the Okanagan have been advised to keep their eyes on the skies even though most of June was much drier than normal.

Environment Canada issued a severe thunderstorm watch for Nicola, South Thompson, North Okanagan and Central Okanagan. It’s a yellow level watch, meaning the lowest severity.

“We’ve got some chances of showers around the regions and some of them have a risk of a thunderstorm in there as well, moreso for tonight,” Environment Canada meteorologist Ian Hubbard told iNFOnews.ca.

There is a high chance of some strong winds, heavy rain and difficult driving conditions, including the possibility of some flooding.

Hubbard said these rains could bring the region a bit closer to normal rainfall levels for June to help alleviate drought conditions.

As of June 29, Kamloops had 14 millimetres of rain, Vernon had 16.6 mm, Kelowna had 18.3 and Penticton saw 8 mm. Each city typically gets roughly 40 mm of rain in June.

The weather is supposed to get warm and sunny heading into the weekend with daily high temperatures expected to hit the low 30s on the weekend.

Drought conditions have been in place in various jurisdictions around the region for weeks.

The BC River Forecast Centre’s latest drought bulletin has the Southern Interior at drought level four out of five.

“As flows decline and approach critical levels in many streams across the Thompson-Okanagan region, efforts are focused on maintaining water in streams for fish habitat while also preserving storage to support flows for salmonids later in the season,” the bulletin reads.