Shuswap

A student’s thoughts on the teacher strike

“I AM SCARED TO ENTER A PROFESSION HATED BY THE PUBLIC” SALMON ARM - An anonymous high school student in Salmon Arm has a message for teachers. “What I want to say to each and every one of you is that I appreciate you and everything you do for your students,” wrote the grade 12...

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...

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: Slow down on the highway and watch your step; freezing rain warning issued

WARNING ENDED FOR CENTRAL OKANAGAN THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – Ice is building up on highways, city streets and sidewalks thanks to freezing rain in parts of the Thompson-Okanagan region Saturday. Environment Canada has continued a freezing rain warning for the South Thompson including Kamloops, the Nicola including Merritt, the Shuswap including Salmon Arm, and the North Okanagan...

Just call it Autummer as high temperatures approach records

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - People in the Shuswap enjoyed a record breaking day Sunday and for much of the Thompson-Okanagan region it was a warm day, just not quite hot enough to break records. In Salmon Arm, a temperature of 20.8 Celsius was enough to break a 40-year-old record and was well past the seasonal normal of...

UPDATE: Severe thunderstorm watch ends

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - A severe thunderstorm watch issued this morning has been lifted for Kamloops, Vernon and the Shuswap. Environment Canada issued the watch for nine different regions, include the North and South Thompson, the North Okanagan and the Shuswap, this morning. The watch extended north through the Cariboo and east to the Alberta border in...

Tragedy and success for rescuers on busy Monday

KAMLOOPS - After two months with only a few calls for service local search and rescue members were called out on three separate searches Monday, including one requiring a rope team to recover the body of Barriere man from a rolled SUV. Kamloops Search Manager Alan Hobler says they were first called out shortly after...

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...

Salmon run countdown begins

KAMLOOPS - People are already making plans for the return of millions of sockeye salmon to Adams River this fall, including the Adams River Salmon Society, B.C. Parks and Tourism Kamloops. Roderick Haig-Brown Provincial Park is undergoing upgrades, forcing the closure of the day-use area and main parking lot adjacent to the entrance at the...

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...

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...

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...

Tropical Tuesday comes close to records

VERNON TOPS PREVIOUS HIGH THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - With temperatures soaring into the mid-30s yesterday, it was a close call for many communities but Vernon was alone in setting a new record. With temperatures reaching a high of 34.8 Celsius, Vernon beat the previous record of 34.4 C, set in 1920. Vernon will be a bit cooler...

Hot, dry June could lead to more fires in July

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Hot, dry and stormy. June was not an ideal month throughout the Kamloops Fire Centre and concerns July could be a very active fire season are still very real. Overall temperatures were slightly above normal and slightly less rain fell. Combined with periods of lightning activity this led to more than 40 new...

UPDATE: Fire burning near Sicamous smaller than originally thought

KAMLOOPS - A fire burning in a cut block east of Shuswap Lake that is ‘quite visible’ from Sicamous was likely started by lightning last night and B.C. Wildfire crews expect more of these types of fires could pop up over the next week. “There was quite a bit last night and we’re forecasting lightning...