North winds, low clouds cause problems for Kelowna International Airport

KELOWNA – Strong winds from the north combined with low cloud lead to seven missed flights at Kelowna International Airport today, Nov. 2.

Operations manager James Hall said some of the flights haven’t been cancelled outright but instead flown back to Vancouver to refuel and give it another try.

“They’re coming back, the forecast showed it was lightening up,” he said, with visibility now over nine miles and a cloud ceiling of 4,200 feet.

“It’s amazing how fast it changes,” Hall added, explaining that a limitations on tailwind landing speed meant aircraft approaching from the north were required to circle around for a southern approach.

“At one point the ceiling was so low, they couldn’t actually make their circling approach to the south end,” Hall said. “The wind was the real problem. If it had been calm, we would have been fine, even with the low ceiling.”

Hall said more rain and unsettled weather is in the forecast along with the possibility of low cloud but the deciding factor will be wind direction

“If we get winds from the south which is more traditional, we shouldn’t have any problems,” he added.

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