Sweltering Kelowna residents looking for a reprieve from the record breaking heat wave are getting good news — cooler temperatures are just around the corner.
Lisa Coldwells, a meteorologist from Environment Canada, said that the ridge of high pressure that’s causing temperatures to skyrocket is shifting eastward and today (Wednesday) will be cooler.
“Highs will be around 27 C,” Coldwells said. “One thing about Wednesday that’s different is that it will be humid. We don’t see a lot of humidity in the Okanagan. So it really will be 27 C but it will feel like 29 C.”
The sticky weather is courtesy of some marine air floating in from the Pacific, she said, and it won’t stay around.
“The big change will start on the weekend — you can’t have one without the other, so now you get the broad scale upper trough which will cool it down to normal temperatures for this time of year,” she said, noting that normal is somewhere between 23 C and 24 C.
Then there may be some intermittent showers.
It’s a big change of fortune from the early days of the week, when there were three days of record breaking temperatures.
Mercury hit 34.5 C on Sunday—breaking the previous record set in 1969 of 33.9—then continued upward for Monday by reaching 35.8 C. That broke the previous 1970 record of 34.4, things got
Tuesday was just as sweltering, and by midday they peaked at 34 C.
The cooler temperatures should come as good news to The City of Kelowna, which went on high alert, issuing a fire danger rating of extreme after the third day of hot weather started.
“The Kelowna Fire Department reminds residents and visitors to be very careful to prevent fires,” read a press release, from the city.
“Open burning or fireworks are not allowed within Kelowna city boundaries, cigarette smoking is banned in City parks and all smoking material should be extinguished carefully.”
Anyone who sees smoke or fire in any park should immediately call *5-5-5-5, the B.C. Wildfire Management Branch, or 9-1-1.
The Kamloops Fire Centre has the latest information on burning restrictions at http://bcwildfire.ca, under Fire Danger.
For more fire prevention information, visit kelowna.ca/fire.
