Wild weather continues to whip across the Okanagan and Shuswap on Thursday.
Environment Canada is forecasting a risk of a thunderstorm late this afternoon that will affect the South Okanagan right into the Shuswap.
RELATED: Winds gust to 111 km/h in B.C. Interior
In the Okanagan, residents could see increase winds gusting up to 50 kilometres an hour as the day progresses. Showers are expected to continue into the night with another thunderstorm rolling in around midnight.
The snow level will lower to 1500 metres overnight with winds picking up to 30 km/h. Temperatures will sit about 12 C across the region.
Friday, could start off with a bit of rain turning to a thunderstorm by the afternoon followed by southwest winds of 20 km/h. The high for the day 12 C.
More wind and rain forecast for the weekend across the Okanagan Valley and Shuswap region with temperatures lowering to 0 C by Sunday.
Tuesday’s storm that blew through the Interior of the province caused major damage to trees and hydro poles.
Dag Sharman with BC Hydro says the company has been faced with power outages in 60 separate locations at the same time in the Okanagan alone.
RELATED: Power remains out for many BC Hydro customers
“The sheer number of separate outages and the extent of damage done to our system by trees falling into our lines and our equipment are the two biggest challenges,” he explains. “For every one of the outages crews have to attend the area, patrol the line to find the problem, make it safe for the public and crews, remove trees and branches, assess the damage, source any new equipment to replace damaged or destroyed equipment and then begin the repair job.”
There are still several customers without power in the Okanagan following Tuesday’s fall storm.
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