Winter weather was nothing to complain about in Kamloops, Okanagan

Kamloops and Okanagan residents didn't have to complain about this winter, which was overall warmer and a little wetter than usual.

Environment Canada's calendar ends calculates winter between December and March so looking back, meteorologist Doug Lundquist says Kamloops was nearly a degree above average this winter at -.9 Celsius compared to the average of -1.8 C, while Vernon was also .9 degrees above average at -1.8 C compared to -2.7 C.

Kelowna was -.4 C compared to -1.9 C, and Penticton was .9 C compared to -.2 C.

“Everywhere in the South interior it was about one to one-and-a-half degrees above normal,” Lundquist says.

Kamloops was almost exactly in line in terms of normal winter precipitation at 59 mm compared to the average of 60 mm.

Vernon had 163 mm compared to the usual 113 mm, which was 45 per cent above average, while Penticton received 94 mm compared to the 76 mm it normally receives, a 25 per cent increase.

There were no full winter precipitation records for Kelowna, Lundquist says.

“Winter as a whole was warmer than average, and on average for precipitation in Kamloops with higher than normal amounts in the North Okanagan, Shuswap and higher elevations," he says.

Lundquist says this year’s only cold snap, which happened at the height of winter in mid-January, failed to have an impact on the season’s overall temperatures.

“It was just long enough to remind us we’re Canadians, but not enough to sway the winter. It hit at the coldest time of winter, so it seemed worse, but there was nothing really off the charts about it,” he says.

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