Record setting dry summer for Penticton; Kelowna just one day away

PENTICTON – With no rain predicted in the forecast for the last day of August — and the next several days for that matter — it appears Penticton and Kelowna is poised to set a new record for the driest summer recorded.

Further north, Vernon has seen rain, albeit a marginal amount.

Environment Canada meteorologist Cindy Yu says with August not quite over, Penticton has recorded no precipitation for the month, which usually has an average of 28.3 mm. July was similar, with no rain recorded during a month when 28.7 mm is normally expected.

“That’s the driest two month period on record. Obviously, you can’t get any drier than no precipitation,” Yu says.

Penticton received 18.5 mm of rain in June, down from a normal of 46.3 mm.

“So for June, July and August, Penticton is currently sitting at 18.5 mm out of 108.3 mm, 18 per cent of normal,” Yu says, adding if the record holds through the end of August it will be the driest summer ever, breaking a record set in 1940 when 20.3 mm was recorded during the three month period.

Yu says Kelowna will most likely set a record for driest summer on record, having only recorded 7.3 mm in the past three months, compared to the last record dry year in 2003, when 23. 6 mm was recorded.

Vernon received a bit more precipitation – 1 mm in August was recorded at the Vernon centre station, with nothing in July.  Vernon recorded 21.6 mm in June, roughly a third of normal.

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