Don’t like the fall weather so far? Get ready for a change for the better

If you thought the past month was wetter and cooler than normal in the Southern Interior, you’re right, but now it’s time to dust off the sunglasses.

Environment Canada meteorologist Armel Castellan says a weather change is about take hold in the Thompson-Okanagan.

Castellan says Kamloops has been averaging two degrees below normal temperatures for October, but that is about to change.

He says Kamloops has only averaged daytime highs of around 6.5 Celsius so far this month, compared to the normal daily average of 8.5 C, but a drying trend is predicted that could last for the better part of the rest of the month, bringing with it some warmer temperatures.

“We have a high confidence this forecast will see the drying trend continue, with a rebound in temperatures that could erase Kamloops's below normal October temperatures by midway through the month,” Castellan says.

If the trend continues, temperatures could well end the month above normal averages, Castellan says. Long-term forecasts indicate the only interruption to the dry, warm weather pattern on the horizon may occur over the weekend of Oct. 20.

Penticton and Kelowna didn’t see precipitation amounts much beyond September norms, but Vernon and Kamloops did see a lot more rain than normal for the month.

Penticton had 109 per cent of normal precipitation with 27 millimetres falling compared to the seasonally normal amount of 25 mm, while Kelowna saw 34.5 mm of rain fall compared to the normal 32.4 mm in September, which is 106 per cent of average.

In Vernon and Kamloops, however, rainfall amounts were much higher with 60 mm falling in Vernon over the month of September compared to an average 37 mm, which is 153 per cent of normal. Castellan says it was the 20th wettest September on record for Vernon.

In Kamloops, the story was similar, where rainfall was 172 per cent of normal making the month the 11th wettest on record. In September, 50.5 mm fell compared to the average of just under 30 mm.

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