May’s hot weather likely to break temperature records in Thompson-Okanagan
PENTICTON – If you thought it was exceptionally hot and dry in the Thompson-Okanagan in May, you’re right.
Environment Canada meteorologist Lisa Erven says May could be the hottest on record in Penticton, Kamloops, Kelowna and Vernon, but official results for the month won’t be calculated until tomorrow.
“Right now we’re looking at Kamloops, with an average mean temperature for May at 14.6 degrees, sitting at 18.6 this May. Kelowna’s average May temperature is 12.8, so far this month it’s 18.2 degrees,” she says, adding stats are similar for Vernon and Penticton.
Erven says the region’s four cities will almost certainly be in the top three for hottest May on record.
It was also exceptionally dry this month, with roughly half the normal amount of precipitation for May, and most of that fell in one day.
“On May 9, between 17 and 22 mm of rain fell on the region compared to Kelowna normally getting 40 mm through the month of May, Vernon 47 and Penticton 39 mm,” Erven says.
The Thompson-Okanagan won’t be breaking any heat waves for the next few days, as showers are forecast today, May 31, with temperatures seasonal in the low 20s.
Friday and Saturday promise to be mainly sunny, with temperatures rising into the mid-20s on Saturday before another trough approaches on Sunday trending temperatures downward once again.
By Monday, expect to see the return of showery weather and temperatures in the high teens, which is below normal for this time of year.
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