March one of the driest on record in Okanagan, Kamloops

March was one of the driest on record in Kamloops and the Okanagan.

Penticton led the way with its second driest March on record. It was the fourth driest March for Vernon, fifth for Kamloops and sixth for Kelowna.

“March is one of the driest months of the year in the area so we don’t expect to see a lot of precipitation but, this time around, it was exceptionally low," Environment Canada meteorologist Bobby Sekhon told iNFOnews.ca. “

It was also a cooler than normal month but not by much. Penticton was about 2 Celsius cooler than average and the rest of the cities were about 1 C cooler.

READ MORE: Long time Kelowna businesses facing extinction with eviction notices

April has started out dry and cool but things are warming up.

“We’re looking at some warmer weather by the end of the weekend and into next week,” Sekhon said. “We’re probably going to see a relatively warmer stretch of weather. We’ll see a bit of southwesterly flow develop and that generally brings us warmer weather in the Thompson and Okanagan areas.”

The normal high daily temperature for early April in Kamloops is 15 C. That city should reach those highs by early next week, he said.

For Kelowna, the normal high is 13 C, which should happen this weekend.

“Spring comes with a lot of uncertainty for even the midrange forecast so it’s hard to say for the month in total but looking out for next week it does look that southern B.C. is indicating above average temperatures,” Sekhon said. “Definitely into the second week of the month it could be above average but beyond that it’s harder to say.”


To contact a reporter for this story, email Rob Munro or call 250-808-0143 or email the editor. You can also submitphotos, 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. 

Join the Conversation!

Want to share your thoughts, add context, or connect with others in your community? Create a free account to comment on stories, ask questions, and join meaningful discussions on our new site.

Leave a Reply

Rob Munro

Rob Munro has a long history in journalism after starting an underground newspaper in Whitehorse called the Yukon Howl in 1980. He spent five years at the 100 Mile Free Press, starting in the darkroom, moving on to sports and news reporting before becoming the advertising manager. He came to Kelowna in 1989 as a reporter for the Kelowna Daily Courier, and spent the 1990s mostly covering city hall. For most of the past 20 years he worked full time for the union representing newspaper workers throughout B.C. He’s returned to his true love of being a reporter with a special focus on civic politics

More Articles