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Thompson-Okanagan
2015 TOP STORIES: Major crimes across the B.C. Interior
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - This year had no shortage of crime stories, with the RCMP launching several major investigations and the courts wrapping up cases from previous years. Here is a summary of some of the top crime stories of 2015. In August, a man was found dead in Vernon’s Polson Park. Police have kept mum on...
UPDATE: Snowfall warning ended for Okanagan and South Thompson
ROADS AND HIGHWAYS IN WINTER DRIVING CONDITION THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – A dump of snow overnight and this morning is making the busiest travel day of the year a challenge for drivers. The snowfall warning issued by Environment Canada for the Thompson-Okanagan earlier this morning was ended at about 10:15 a.m., Dec. 27. Forecasters say significant snowfall...
Smoky skies advisory issued for entire Thompson-Okanagan region
THOMPSON OKANAGAN – If the visible smoke in the sky wasn't enough to warn you, a smoky skies advisory has now been issued for a large portion of the Southern Interior. The Ministry of Environment, in collaboration with the Interior Health Authority, has issued a smoky skies advisory for the Thompson, Shuswap, Nicola, Fraser Canyon,...
The weather record breaker that was June
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – If it felt like weather dominated the headlines throughout June, that’s because if it wasn’t dropping a month’s worth of rain in a day, we were shattering high temperature records around the region. Lisa Coldwells, an Environment Canada meteorologist, says despite the heavy rains that bookended the beginning and end of the month,...
UPDATE: Severe thunderstorm watch issued for Southern Interior
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – We could see severe thunderstorms develop in the Thompson-Okanagan region this afternoon and evening. Environment Canada issued a severe thunderstorm watch this morning covering the South and North Thompson, Nicola, Shuswap and Okanagan regions and upgraded it to a warning for parts of the South Thompson, Nicola and Okanagan regions for a short...
Wildfire crews hopping with 16 new fires on weekend
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – Almost half of the 16 new wildfires sparked in the Thompson-Okanagan region over the weekend were preventable because people caused them. Kelsey Winter with B.C. Wildfire Management says seven of the fires crews have either put out, or are currently working to put out, have been listed as human caused. The rest of...
Heat wave continues though not as hot has originally forecast
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – While it will still be hot this weekend, it won’t be has hot as first forecast by Environment Canada. The Special Weather Statement issued on Thursday, June 25, for the South and North Thompson, Nicola, Shuswap and Okanagan warning of temperatures as high at 40 Celsius has been ended. Meteorologists are still forecasting...
Hot weather ahead for the Thompson-Okanagan
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – Dig out your sunscreen and your flip-flops because B.C.’s Interior is in for some unseasonably hot weather over the coming week. Although the average temperature for the region is in the low 20s from Kamloops all the way south to Penticton, residents can look forward to highs of 29 C with only occasional...
Happy 10th birthday YouTube; local viral videos
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – The very first YouTube video was uploaded ten years ago today so InfoNews has put together some of our regions most watched clips of the last decade. The first Okanagan classic is about a focused skater singing the national anthem at a Penticton Vees game in October 2014. It has more than 3-million...
Windstorm slams BC interior knocking power out to 39,000
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – A major wind storm blew through the B.C. interior Saturday afternoon, March 14, knocking down trees and breaking branches which in turn hit hydro lines cutting the power to about 39,000. In the Thompson-Okanagan area just under 1,000 B.C. Hydro customers are still without power as of 1 p.m., Sunday, March 15 due...
When to start reserving provincial camping sites
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Camping enthusiasts can set their alarms for the 9 a.m. opening of the online camping reserve system, Sunday, March 15. The interactive reservation website displays availability, layout and amenities for 115 front country campgrounds in 99 provincial parks. Reservations can also be made on the go using smartphones, but you aren't limited to...
Local flooding possible as El Nino-like weather melts lower snowpack
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – It doesn’t happen often, but a perfect alignment of the right conditions may cause some flooding in the Southern Interior. The warm Pacific air bombarding the region, thanks to the Pineapple Express, is creating above normal temperatures, which in turn are starting to melt the lower elevation snowpack. Add the still frozen ground...
Local pilot catches heat for harassing wild animals
KELOWNA – A YouTube video of a Kelowna man flying his paramotor around the Okanagan may have attracted more attention than he wanted. Emile Beaulieau made the video of him flying his fan-driven paraglider around the Okanagan late last year. In it, he can be seen skimming over rooftops and buzzing herds of wild deer...
There is an end in sight to the snow
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – It’s been a long time since the Thompson-Okanagan received such a massive dump of snow in such a short time. “It has been quite an amazing snowfall so far,” Environment Canada meteorologist Lisa Coldwells says. By 10 a.m. Monday, we were looking at amounts which ranged from 25 centimetres in the South Okanagan,...
Chaos reigns on the roads and highways during snow storm
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – Emergency crews were kept hopping Sunday as mother nature hit the Southern Interior with a major dump of the snow, the first huge dump of the winter. A severe winter storm warning was issued by Environment Canada Saturday predicting 10 centimetres of snow in the valley bottoms and up to 40 cm on...
UPDATE: Winter storm slamming Southern Interior
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – A warning from Environment Canada about a strong winter storm advancing from the B.C. coast and arriving in the Southern Interior Sunday morning has been updated and confirms more snow will fall than originally expected. A clash of warm, moist Pacific air with the already entrenched arctic air will lead to significant snowfall...
See the Thompson-Okanagan like you never have before
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – A video posted to YouTube over the weekend gives a truly birds-eye view of some of the most spectacular features of the Thompson-Okanagan. Emile Beaulieu is a Kelowna resident whose passion is paramotoring. Using a parachute and what is essentially a large powered fan strapped to his back, he performs breathtaking fly-bys of...
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...
UPDATE: Wildfire burning north of Princeton 90 per cent contained
PRINCETON - A wildfire north of Princeton is 90 per cent contained, as of Tuesday morning. The wildfire has grown to 182 hectares from the 110 ha estimated Monday morning. It is believed to be human caused, said Kayla Pepper, fire information officer with B.C. Wildfire. The fire was first reported Sunday at around 5...
A look at your long weekend weather, dry lightning expected
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – Make sure to keep a watchful eye under those sunshades this weekend; despite sunny forecasts, B.C. Wildfire is expecting dry lightning to hit the area. “We’re heading into a period now where we’re seeing the potential for more naturally occurring wildfires to pop up, but with lightning tracking in the region it’s common...
Thompson-Okanagan drownings could have been prevented
THOMPSON OKANAGAN - A 14-year-old boy who died in a tubing accident in Vernon is one of 42 people across the province, and seven in the Thompson-Okanagan alone, whose lives were claimed in preventable drowning or water-related incidents over the past six and a half months. Miles Wohlford, 14, fell off his tube during an afternoon...