Warm temperature records broken in Kamloops, Shuswap and Okanagan on weekend

It was a balmy day in Kamloops, the Okanagan and Shuswap last Saturday, mild enough to break daytime temperature records in five communities.

Environment Canada meteorologist Bobby Sekhon says Kamloops, Salmon Arm, Vernon, Penticton and Osoyoos all broke temperature records on Saturday, Feb. 1, as a Pineapple Express weather system pushed tropical air into the region prior to a cold front moving in later that day.

Kamloops reached a record high of 13.2 Celsius. The previous record was 12.4 C from 2005. Osoyoos reached 13.8 C on Saturday, besting the previous record of 12 C set in 2006. Vernon’s 10.8 C high temperature on Saturday was also a record, a half degree higher than the previous 2006 high of 10.3 C. Salmon Arm reached a comfortable 12.4 C on Saturday, which was a new record over the previous high of 11.1 C set in 1953.

Penticton reached 11.6, edging out the previous high of 11.5 set in 1992.

“It just barely broke that one. There was a bit of everything on Saturday, high temperatures, winds, a cold front,” Sekhon says.

Sekhon says the system that caused the warm temperatures in the Okanagan also wreaked havoc elsewhere, with heavy rains causing washouts and mudslides in the Lower Mainland.

“The Okanagan saw the warm temperatures but none of the heaviest rains such as what happened on the coast. It’s odd how a weather system can have a different effect on every region,” he says.

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