Gloomy dark clouds over the Okanagan won’t part any time soon

OKANAGAN – That stifling grey pall of gloom hanging over the Okanagan is here courtesy of El Nino and Environment Canada says we can expect more of the same for at least the next ten days.

Meteorologist Matthew MacDonald says we are at the mercy of major weather systems conspiring to blot out the sun. That this is so far a fairly typical winter under a thick blanket of cloud is likely no solace to a population of chosen sundwellers.

“We’re right on track. We saw a major shift in the pattern last week where instead of one solid confined jet stream, it splits in two,” MacDonald explains. One stream to the north and another to the south leaves a weak air mass in between.

“There’s a bit of a system rolling in today (but) there’s been no systems to rip across the province and move it around so you end up with this light air mass that produces this cloudy grey pattern.”

MacDonald can’t really prove it — budget cuts at Environment Canada means sunshine hours are no longer measured outside Vancouver and Victoria — but says the weather in the past week really hasn’t been out of the ordinary for the Okanagan.

“Maybe a bit more cloud than usual. But really once you get into November, cloud is the name of the game in the valley. This is not a sunny place in winter,” he adds.

MacDonald says we can expect more of the same for at least the next ten days with occasional flurries and temperatures above seasonal, hovering a couple of degrees above zero during the day and dropping just below at night.

To contact the reporter for this story, email John McDonald at jmcdonald@infonews.ca or call 250-808-0143. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.