More weather records fall, rain finally in forecast

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – While most of the Interior saw temperatures soar above the mid-30s Wednesday only a few communities actually saw old records broken.

Penticton, Osoyoos and Clinton all set new records for July 16 but Osoyoos saw the biggest jump with a temperature of 39.6 Celsius, up nearly three degrees from the previous record set in 1994.

Penticton beat out a nearly 100-year-old record by less than a degree, setting a new record of 36.4 C while Clinton has a new record of 30 C, beating the record set in 2004 by just over a degree.

Today much of the Southern Interior will again see temperatures above 30 C, well below record highs, but we can expect to see near-normal temperatures of 26-28 C through the weekend and heading into next week.

The weekend could also bring some much-needed cloud cover and rain with a 30 per cent chance of showers Saturday and a 40-60 per cent chance of showers on Monday.

Kamloops has already seen 10 days in a row of temperatures above 30 C, for a total of 13 of 16 days this month topping 30 C. All but one has been above, if not well above, the seasonal normal of 28-29 C.

Vernon, Kelowna and Penticton all come in just behind Kamloops, with nine days in a row of 30 C plus temperatures though every day has been at least at or above the seasonal normals of 26-28 C.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Jennifer Stahn at jstahn@infonews.ca or call 250-819-3723. To contact an editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.