What happened to the heat? Cooler weather in Okanagan, Kamloops but May long weekend is looking good

Following a stellar summer-like weekend, Kamloops and Okanagan residents will see a change in the weather pattern today as a cold front moves in.

Environment Canada meteorologist Doug Lundquist says to watch for thunderstorms this afternoon and evening, May 17, and into tomorrow along with a big cool down from weekend temperatures that reached 30 Celsius in much of the Thompson and Okanagan.

Today, Kamloops should see a high of 20 C while Okanagan cities could reach 21 C, but tomorrow and Wednesday, Lundquist says, temperatures will struggle to reach the mid-teens before a moderating trend begins around mid-week.

READ MORE: Cold front hits southern B.C., snow possible in mountain passes

“It’s perfectly timed for the weekend, with temperatures expected to gradually warm up for the weekend as a weak ridge of high pressure builds,” Lundquist says.

It appears at this point the May long weekend will be pleasant, with highs in the mid-20s.

“It’s a ways out yet, but the systems appear similarly timed to what happened last week – warming into the weekend, with Monday expected to be the coolest day as another front makes its way across the region,” Lundquist says.

As far as precipitation goes, Lundquist says it appears the region is starting to move into that "upper low," or monsoon season but it continues to be drier than normal.

“Even when it tries to rain, it doesn’t give us enough. We need to get a series of these systems, that aren’t separated by a week. There doesn’t appear to be a lot of accumulation in terms of rain with this system, maybe two or three millimetres in the (Okanagan) valley, but it will be cold enough we’ll see some white on the mountains,” Lundquist says.

Mountain highways such as the Coquihalla could see snowfall accumulations tonight and Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement.

Lundquist says it's unlikely the snow will stick around for long, but expect possible winter driving conditions to start the day tomorrow if using high elevation routes.

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