May and June may have been very wet for the Okanagan, but the region is set to have a hot and dry summer.
Environment Canada meteorologist Doug Lundquist said that in June, the Okanagan received 72 millimetres of precipitation, compared to the average of 59 mm.
“Temperature-wise, the region averaged 16 C, which is half a degree colder than usual,” he said.
“May was even wetter, with 62mm of precipitation. Usually, we get 48mm. Temperature-wise, we averaged 14 C. Usually, we’re around 13.1 C, so May was about a degree above average.”
Lundquist added it’s still a bit early to give an exact outlook for July in terms of precipitation, but he said the region is looking like it’s on track for a hot and dry summer.
He said it’s typical for the region to have an ‘Interior monsoon’ season around May, switching to the drier part of summer, but that wet season started two weeks early in the Okanagan, dropping more rain than usual.
“May and June were above average when it comes to precipitation. It’s still too early to call, but July is tracking on the drier side. Usually, we get 37mm of precipitation in July but we’ve only got 12mm and it’s already half over,” he said.
“Typically, the end of July is drier than the beginning of the month. It’s the first time in two months that we’re tracking towards dry.”
In the next few days, Lundquist said to expect 30 C weather, tapering off to high 20s over the weekend then going back up to 30 C by the beginning of next week.
“We may see more days in the high 20s so at least for the next few weeks, it’s looking like we’ll be in that normal mid-summer’s weather, where our average highs are 27 C,” he said.
“Generally, expect that we’ll be near or above average for the next week and probably continuing to the week after that… it’s highly likely that the rest of the summer and the beginning of fall will be warmer than average.”
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