Warm, windy winter so far in the Okanagan and Kamloops

It hasn’t felt like winter yet in the Okanagan and Kamloops and there’s a slim chance for a white Christmas in most parts of the region.

Daily high temperatures have been hovering around 10 Celsius around the Okanagan, but Kamloops set a temperature record on Dec. 15 at 18 C.

For the first half of this week, Kamloops saw wind speeds around 67 km/h, Vernon and Kelowna’s winds were at 52 km/h and Penticton saw 71 km/h winds on Dec. 15.

Temperatures are expected to drop heading into next week.

The forecast for the Okanagan is showing daytime highs of 0 C and -1 C at the start of next week with a 40 per cent chance of flurries on Monday and Tuesday.

Kamloops is supposed to be a bit warmer with highs around 2 C with a 30 per cent chance of flurries on Sunday.

At the moment it’s looking like it will be a green Christmas, but drivers going through the mountain passes should brace for snow.

The Coquihalla Highway has a snowfall warning from Hope to Merritt. There has already been around 30 centimetres of snowfall and forecasters are expecting another 10 cm to 15 cm.

The local ski hills aren’t getting quite as much snow as the highways.

There are 78 trails open at Sun Peaks Mountain Resort near Kamloops and only the Orient Chairlift and Sundance Express Chairlift are closed. It has a 104 cm snow base and it received 16 cm of snow in the last 24 hours.

At Vernon’s SilverStar Resort there are 53 out of 133 alpine trails open and six out of 10 lifts are open. It has a 101 cm snow base and got 14 cm of snow in the last 24 hours.

Big White Ski Resort near Kelowna has six lifts open, two closed and four on standby. It currently has a 111 cm snow base and it got 10 cm of snow over the last 24 hours.

Nearly every trail is open at Apex Mountain Resort near Penticton, except for the terrain sections, and it has a 127 cm snow base with 16 cm falling over the last 24 hours.