Warm, sunny weekend in store for Kamloops, Okanagan

Showers and possible thunderstorms should give way to sunny skies and temperatures as high as 20 Celsius in Kamloops this weekend.

The Okanagan daytime highs are forecast for 17 C on Saturday and 18 C on Sunday, also with sunny skies.

But first, in both regions, there’s a 40% chance of showers today, April 21, with the risk of thunderstorms and a 30% chance of showers tomorrow.

Highs for the next couple of days are forecast to still be below seasonal normals at 12 C today and 14 C Friday in the Okanagan. The normal highs for this time of year is 16 C in the Okanagan, 18 C in Kamloops.

While the precipitation forecast is the same for Kamloops, the high is only expected to reach 10 C today but jump to 18 C tomorrow, 20 C on Saturday then slip down to 19 C on Sunday.

Early next week shows clouds starting to move in on Monday, with cooler temperatures and a 60% chance of rain on Tuesday, according to Environment Canada. The accuracy of such forecasts decreases the further ahead they look.

Overnight lows in both regions should be well above freezing at 3 C to 4 C this week and rising to 6 C to 8 C through the weekend.

The chance of precipitation for the mountain passes is similar except that the risk of rain turns to possible snow flurries at higher elevations.

There could be as much as four centimetres of snow on the Coquihalla summit between Hope and Merritt and five cm on the Okanagan Connector later today. Snow levels are forecast to be in the 1,100 to 1,200 metre range.

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