CLIMATE CHANGE: Okanagan has steadily heated up over the last few decades

If you think it’s getting hotter every summer in the Okanagan, you’re right.

The Okanagan Basin Water Board crunched the numbers for the past 100 years, using the 1951-1980 time period as a baseline.

It found that, from 1991 to 2020, the average temperature for almost every week was higher than the baseline and, over the past 30 years, the average summer temperature was more than one degree Celsius higher than the baseline.

READ MORE: Drought deepens in Kamloops and the Okanagan

The report, which went to the Okanagan Basin Water Board on Aug. 1, includes charts showing how many days were above 30 C each summer in the three major Okanagan cities.

This chart may be hard to read but the red bars show the number of days over 30 C for the past 100 years in Vernon (top), Kelowna (middle) and Penticton (bottom). | Credit: Submitted/Okanagan Basin Water Board

“Although, in the past, there were years with long hot spells (days over 30 C), these consistently occurred during El Nino years,” the report says. “Now, hot spells also take place in La Nina years, which was not the case in the past.

“Overall, there is a clear shift to warmer average temperatures and the number of extremely hot days is increasing for the Okanagan. These observed changes in temperature have significant and wide-ranging implications for human health, ecosystem health, infrastructure, and extreme events like fire.”


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. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here.

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