Heavy downpours a possibility beginning Thursday
Thunderstorms moving into the Central Okanagan Thursday have prompted Environment Canada to issue a Special Weather Statement.
Meteorologist Doug Lundquist says thunderstorms are expected to arrive by midday Thursday with rain continuing through Friday..
"The issue is we could see maybe 20 or 25 mms of rain in parts of the valley at lower elevations, and up high, it isn't entirely impossible that we could see amounts as high as 40 mms out towards Big White," he says.
Lundquist says the rain will flush what's left of the lower elevation snowpack – and with creek and river levels already high and the ground saturated – there's the risk of more flooding.
He says showers will linger Friday and Saturday, but not a lot in the way of accummulations, and then an upper low – or a cold low offshore will enter the region.
"It'll be much cooler; a more controlled melt and not the significant rainfalls we get when the warm air is mixed in with the cold air, so certainly we just need to get through midnight Friday, with the rain anyway, and then we'll see how that flushes through the creeks ansd rivers," he says.
Lundquist says Wednesday's forecast high, near 25, is well above the seasonal high of 19 – and then by Friday, it'll cool off to 12 degrees before more normal temperatures return next week.
