Weather Appreciation

[Glacier]

Wow, another failed weather prediction last night. Environment Canada had issued a snowfall warning, telling us that we'd get 10 cm overnight and 5 cm this morning... but all we got was 2 cm.

[Donald G]

I would not want to be responsible for giving the "Okanagan" weather report given the valleys and mountains and associated temperature changes.

East Kelowna got about three inches of wet show during this last fall. How much would that have been if light and fluffy ??

The previous snowfall, although much deeper was so light and fluffy that I was able to use my (leaf) blower to clear the driveway.

What is true here is seldom true a few miles away. Which area at which altitude should they select when giving Okanagan weather ?? It might be the airport which is in an east/west valley rather than the southern Okanagan north/south valley. Sometimes very different.

[Glacier]

Record breaking warmth continues today. Here are the temperatures from yesterday that hit double digits:

ALBERTA:
Lethbridge = 20.0C
Calgary = 17.2C
Waterton Park = 15.3C
Pncher Creek = 14.9C
Banff = 12.3C
Jasper = 10.4C

Coastal BC:
White Rock = 15.3C
Abbotsford = 14.9C
Pitt Meadows = 14.3C
Vancouver = 14.1C
Hope = 13.9C
Port Alberni = 12.5C
Comox = 12.4C
Powell River = 11.9C

Interior of BC:
Lillooet = 13.0C
Smithers = 11.0C
Tatlayoko Lake = 10.6C
Sparwood = 10.4C
Cranbrook = 10.0C

[Queen K]

How's the Non-Winter working out for everyone?

[Lady tehMa]

Well, I'm okay with it but my kids are a little down. Plus our school is hosting Mexican exchange students who would dearly love to see a snowfall - most of them had never seen snow before arriving. As they disembarked at the school, they charged en mass to the snowbanks and had a snowball fight, whereupon they pronounced "it's cold!"

[Glacier]

There's still lots of snow on the ground, though it is melting. I stepped into my backyard on the weekend, and sunk up past my knee.

How about Lethbridge, Alberta with +20 weather? By contrast, my in-laws in Alaska are getting their fist cold snap all winter.

[Lady tehMa]

More snow, just in time for the Grade 12 toboggan party tonight. And my son just was getting ready to head out to shovel snow for the neighbours and we got a call from one of his regulars.

I'm neutral, as long as we don't get a dump like last time. My husband was not pleased to see all that white stuff however :/

[Queen K]

It's melting super fast and even quit for about 40 minutes. Next thing I know, it's dumping down again.

[Donald G]

To Queen K ...

There is an old saying that you get what you deserve in life. Maybe you should tell your neighbours to clean up their act so it would quit snowing in your part of town.

[Glacier]

It's amazing how a single degree makes such a difference. I got another few cm of snow yesterday while in Vernon the snow did not even stick.

Elevation is a huge factor, as is proximity to the lake as well as lattitude. Here is a little graph showing how much snow the Okanagan valley had on the ground at the end of January (weather stations listed from south to north)...

[Glacier]

Here are some interesting facts from January 2015:

1) Which place had the coldest average temperature: Osoyoos, Penticton, Peachland, or Okanagan Centre?
A: Osoyoos.

2) Which place in Canada had the most above normal snowfall?
A: Merritt, BC at 273% of normal. Vernon was 2nd in Canada.

3) What was the warmest temperature recorded in Canada?
A: +20C at Lethbridge, Alberta.

4) What was the most above normal place in Canada?
A: Atlin, BC at a whopping +5.9C (~10F) above average.

5) Which of these places did not hit 10C in January: Merritt, Vancouver, Clinton, Sparwood, Chetwynd, the Similkameen valley, or the Okanagan valley?
A: You get the exercise. The Okanagan valley.

[Donald G]

I would like to extend my personal thanks to the world weather factors that came together to give us our few minutes of Sunshine in Kelowna today. Greatly appreciated.

My apologies to those who got the snow we were promised for last night and this morning.

I like to think of it as more evidence that people get what they deserve. lol

[Glacier]

Last year at this time was record cold, and this year it is record warmth. +12 in Osyoos and Penticton and up to +15 and rising on the coast.

This is shaping up to be a very warm winter. Looking back at 2014, the entire year was one of the warmest on record. 10th warmest provincially, though 14th hottest in the Okanagan. Some places Shawnigan Lake, it was the warmest year on record.

Here is a list of a few weather stations with long term records showing which year was hottest, and also how 2014 ranked. 1998, 1958, 1987, 2004 and 1941 are the top 5 warmest years on record overall. 1941 is the hottest year in 1 location (though not all stations below go back that far), 8 were hottest in 1958, 6 in 1987, 6 in 1998, 5 in 2004, 1 in 2013, and 1 in 2014.


City......................Hottest year……..RANK 2014
ABBOTSFORD A..................2004……….4
AGASSIZ CDA...................1958……….3
COMOX A.......................1958……….4
CRANBROOK A...................1998……….27
CRESTON.......................1998……….11
DEASE LAKE....................1997……….20
ESTEVAN POINT.................1958……….3
FORT NELSON A.................1987……….31
FORT ST JAMES.................1987……….8
FORT ST JOHN A................1987……….37
KAMLOOPS A....................1998……….15
KASLO.........................1998……….11
LANGARA.......................1958……….6
LYTTON........................1958……….7
NANAIMO A.....................1987……….7
PACHENA POINT.................1997……….3
PENTICTON A...................1998……….14
PORT HARDY A..................2004……….7
POWELL RIVER A................2004……….3
PRINCETON A...................1998……….12
SANDSPIT A....................1958……….4
SHAWNIGAN LAKE................2014……….1
SMITHERS A....................2013……….14
TATLAYOKO LAKE................1941……….20
TERRACE A.....................2004……….12
VANCOUVER INT'L A.............1958……….5
VICTORIA GONZALES HTS.........2004……….14
VICTORIA INT'L A..............1958……….7

[Glacier]

Looks like Terrace and Kimimat are getting hammered with snow.



http://globalnews.ca/news/1816369/photo ... e-to-come/

[Queen K]

Thinking of Steven Lloyd for some reason. ^^

I have a North Carolina friend who thinks they'd be "lucky."