Kamloops, Okanagan will emerge from the cold this weekend

After a few nights of double-digit below freezing temperatures and chilly days in Kamloops and the Okanagan, warmer days are coming.

“Towards end of the work week we will see a warming trend back into the area,” Environment Canada meteorologist Derek Lee told iNFOnews.ca today, Feb. 24.

“For Saturday, our temperatures really begin to warm up and it will get above zero. Moving to Sunday it will get even warmer as we get an influence from a southwest flow. Generally, a flow from the southwest means that we will get warmer weather from the ocean and, maybe, some more moisture into the area.”

Daytime highs are expected to reach around 10 Celsius by mid-week next week. They will be a couple of degrees higher in Kamloops because it will have dryer air.

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Moisture is expected to be minimal, in the two to five millimetre range.

The two to four centimetres of snow that was forecast for the region overnight up to this morning did not materialize other than as a trace in most areas.

“Yesterday we sent up a weather balloon in that area and looked at the profile of the atmosphere,” Lee said. “As of yesterday morning, there was a pocket of dry air in the mid-level atmosphere so, as the precipitation fell, I guess it just evaporated when it fell into the dry area and didn’t really make it to the ground.”

While Environment Canada doesn’t like to forecast too far into the future, Lee said there’s no cold air on the horizon so it should remain relatively warm into mid-March, at least.

The dry weather in the valley bottoms will also translate into dry air through the mountain passes through Friday, although there will be gusty winds and a chance of flurries this morning. It should be mostly sunny throughout the region tomorrow.

Alpine snow levels at regional ski hills:

• 203 cm – Sun Peaks
• 168 cm – Silver Star
• 168 cm – Big White
• 165 cm – Apex

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