If April showers bring May flowers then the Okanagan better be filled with florals next month.
This month, although isn’t quite over, saw 37.7 millimetres of rain fall in the Kelowna area. The average precipitation for the Central Okanagan is 29.1 mm, which makes this month the 12th wettest on record.
Alyssa Charbonneau with Environment Canada says we could still see a few more days of rain in April so that means the record could change.
“As we moved from March into April, typically we are getting the wetter season so it is not surprising to see these record numbers go up.”
In Vernon, 52.7 mm of precipitation fell so far in this month compared to the average rainfall of 29.0 mm for April.
Those living in the Shuswap might not be surprised to learn that 69.7 mm of rain fell since the first of the month compared to the average of 43.6 mm in April. The Shuswap region has recently been plagued with mudslides and cracking pavement brought on damp weather.
The rain hasn’t just been falling in recent weeks either, as Charbonneau explains, March was the third wettest on record in Kelowna with 38.3 mm of rain. While Vernon saw 52.9 mm of precipitation making this March the fourth wettest on record for the North Okanagan.
“Right across the province March was rated in one of the top 10 wettest months on record,” she says.
As for the hope of May flowers sprouting up in the sunshine, that might be a few more days coming.
“There is a ridge of high pressure so we are expecting things to dry out until Saturday afternoon, but then we don’t see a nice solid dry ridge coming through. So we are still going to have showery weather going into the beginning of May,” explains Charbonneau.
No serious storms are forecast for the Okanagan although the Shuswap will see heavier rain over the next few days.
“Next week between Tuesday and Thursday we could get a bit of a warm up coming, so that is good news,” she says. “Temperatures are forecast to rise to around 20 C.”
However as May continues, Charbonneu says so will the seasonal temperatures of highs near 17 C and lows near 5 C.
