Okanagan

Grasshoppers take over the Interior

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - While they are an important food source in parts of Africa the overwhelming number of grasshoppers gracing our yards, parks and roads have not been nearly as welcome in the Southern Interior. Karla Hoffman, Integrated Pest Management Coordinator for Kamloops says while the city itself is not dealing with the grasshoppers as a...

UPDATE: Severe thunderstorm watch ended

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - UPDATE: 8:49 p.m., Aug. 14 The severe thunderstorm watch for the South and North Thompson and Nicola regions has ended. Short-lived storms passed through the region late afternoon and early evening, but no major damage has been reported. UPDATE: 6:07 p.m., Aug. 14 The severe thunderstorm warning has been downgraded back down to...

UPDATE: Severe thunderstorm watch ended, again

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - For the second day in a row the risk of severe thunderstorms in the Interior passed before any damage could be done. Much of the region received at least some rain overnight or this morning. While it stopped by mid-morning, a 30-40 per cent chance of showers remains tonight. Environment Canada issued the...

UPDATE: Smoky skies advisory ends

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - After more than a week under a smoky sky advisory, the smoke has finally cleared. There have been more than 1,100 wildfires this year and more than 252,000 hectares have burned. Six of those fires have been more than 10,000 ha in size with the largest reaching more than 88,000 ha. Smoke from...

UPDATE: Severe thunderstorm watch ended

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - A system threatening to bring strong winds and heavy rain to the region this afternoon is no longer a concern according to Environment Canada. Meteorologists warned the system, which was developing over Washington, could produce wind gusts in excess of 70 kilometres per hour and dump 15 millimetres of rain in a short...

Perseids peak tonight

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - A nearly full moon may make it difficult to see the full impact of the Perseids meteor shower tonight, but one of the best meteor showers of the year is still worth staying up for. The Perseids are visible from July 17 through Aug. 24 and produce longer trails and fireballs as an...

Second supermoon lights up the sky

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Full moons often catch a photographers eye but supermoons seem to bring out the photographer in everyone. Sunday night the second of three consecutive supermoons filled the sky. A supermoon also made an appearance in July and another is set for Sept. 9. A supermoon occurs when the full moon is about 50,000...

Heat, rain in forecast

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Have both your sunscreen and umbrella on standby, we are expecting two more days of high heat but then we are heading to below normal temperatures and rain later in the week. Monday we are looking at temperatures of 34 to 36 Celsius across the region and while Tuesday's temperatures for most of...

Why this girl needs a crawling baby, a turtle and a whole bunch of lego

SCAVENGER HUNTING TAKEN TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL VERNON - Robyn Potticary needs to set up a race between a crawling baby and a turtle, find some generous senior citizens to mud wrestle, volunteer for a non-profit, and forgive a grudge — among more than 100 other challenges — and she only has until Friday...

HELSTON: A rail trail might be easier than we thought

While the scenic, lakeside railway between Vernon and Kelowna rolls closer to being put on the market, the fact remains there’s not much prospective buyers could do with the property. The land, which carves its way through several Okanagan communities past lakes and parks, comes with a few strings attached. The City of Kelowna has...

VIDEO: Smith Creek fire from above and by the numbers

KELOWNA - Take a guess: How much water have fire crews dropped on the Smith Creek fire over the past week and a half? Would you believe more than 1.2 million litres? As of Monday morning helicopters had flown more than 100 hours, skimmers had dropped more than 300 loads of water and foam and...

Meteor shower to peak early next week

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Grab a date, a blanket and a bottle of wine and prepare to spend a night gazing up at the sky during the peak of a month-long meteor shower early next week. The Delta Aquarids meteor shower runs annually from July 12 to Aug. 23 and this year the peak will occur in...

UPDATE: Power restored after storm cut off thousands of residents

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Power has been restored to most customers in the Thompson-Okanagan following widespread outages affecting over 16,000 customers at their peak. Sabrina Locicero with B.C. Hydro says power in the Thompson-Okanagan and Shuswap regions is back on for the vast majority of customers. Only ten customers remained without power as of Friday morning. B.C. Hydro...

Mother Nature bringing the heat

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - This week brought stormy skies but next week will once again bring the heat as temperatures are set to soar into the mid-30s. “The good news is it’s over,” Environment Canada Meteorologist Doug Lundquist says of the heavy rains and thunderstorms that passed through this week. “And then the ridge builds next week...

Snow greets Ironman Triathletes in Whistler

WHISTLER - Residents and tourists woke to snow in Whistler Thursday morning after a cool, wet system moved through overnight. The snow came just in time for the Ironman Triathlon, which kicks off this weekend, though it will likely be gone before the athletes compete on Sunday. More rain and cool temperatures are expected through...

Intense storm dropped record rain at rapid rate

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Several rainfall records were broken Wednesday but a local meteorologist says it is the rate of the rainfall that is the big story. “A record rain doesn’t really tell the story, the real story is the speed which it came out of the clouds,” Doug Lundquist of Environment Canada says. “You can have...

UPDATE: Severe thunderstorm warnings end

UPDATE: A severe thunderstorm warning reissued for the Okanagan Valley has now ended. Twice today, Environment Canada has warned the storms could produce strong wind gusts, dime to nickel sized hail and heavy rain. All weather warnings have now ended for the South Thompson, Nicola, Shuswap and North Thompson regions that were under warnings earlier...

Campfire ban lifted in Clearwater area

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - If you want to have a fire while camping this weekend you may be fighting off the masses heading north to the Clearwater region thanks to the campfire ban being rescinded as of noon Wednesday for that fire zone. B.C. Wildfire is now allowing campfires in the area thanks to rain reducing the...

IN PICTURES: 2,500 Girl Guides from around the world come to Enderby

ENDERBY - Visit the small North Okanagan town of Enderby this week and you’ll find a city within a city. Girl Guides have built a colony of 2,500 people in Riverside Park for this year’s Spirit of Adventure Rendezvous (SOAR), effectively doubling Enderby’s population. The event happens every three years in different locations and this...

Boot Hill fire completely contained

PENTICTON - The Boot Hill fire near Lookout Mountain is 100 per cent contained with the goal achieved Tuesday evening.  The 101 hectare fire is located 30 kilometres south of Penticton.  The fire was caused by lightning and was not an interface fire, according to B.C. Wildfire.  The fire was first called in on July...

UPDATE: Heavy rains, thunderstorms in forecast

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - As much as 50 millimetres of rain could fall over the next two days as a low pressure system moving through southern B.C. is set to produce heavy showers and thunderstorms. Environment Canada issued a special weather statement this morning noting the potential for locally heavy rainfall of 25-50 mm with thunderstorms, which...

Washington wildfire smoke spreads north

SOUTH OKANAGAN - Smoke caused by Washington wildfires has been steadily creeping up the South Okanagan valley since Monday afternoon. There has been little smoke around the Penticton area from the Apex and Jura Mountain fires that have been burning for more than a week, so just how big are these fires in Washington that...

Cooler, wet forecast could help Thompson-Okanagan fire crews

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - A little help is in the forecast for fire crews this week as Mother Nature dials down the temperatures and throws in a little rain. While temperatures will be near normal (26-29 Celsius) across the region for the next two days we can also expect to see rain today with a 40 per...

UPDATE: Jura Mountain fire 70 per cent contained

PENTICTON - The wildfire burning near Jura Mountain remains 460 hectares in size and is still 70 per cent contained Sunday. The blaze is burning near five kilometres southeast of Missezula Lake. There are 27 firefighters, 4 helicopters, 9 pieces of heavy equipment with air tankers hitting the fire as needed, according to the B.C....