Dry May

[Frisk]

If you think BC is dry, check out the fire danger rating in the north and the prairies!

It's always drier in those areas this time of year. They have fires in May / early June (like the Slave Lake fire in 2011) and get lots of rain in the summer.

[Frisk]

The entire southern part of BC is going to get a huge amount of rain tomorrow and wednesday. It will be particularly heavy here in the Okanagan.

Wet weather on the way.
A change to a wetter pattern is forecast for the southern half of British Columbia, particularly over the Southern Interior. An upper disturbance moving in from the Pacific today will bring increasing amounts of moisture and instability. Showers or thunderstorms are expected to develop later today and will become fairly widespread over much of the Southern Interior on Tuesday, with the potential for localized higher rainfall amounts. The showers will taper off on Wednesday.

The public is advised to monitor future forecasts and warnings as warnings may be required or extended.

[Glacier]

The entire southern part of BC is going to get a huge amount of rain tomorrow and wednesday. It will be particularly heavy here in the Okanagan.

May is now over. June is the wettest month of the year in the Okanagan.

Still dry on Vancouver Island. Only 2mm of rain fell in Victoria in May. Driest on record. Summers are almost always dry in Victoria. The driest in Canada.

[Frisk]

It's gonna get pretty hot starting Friday.

Fri, 5 Jun Sunny. High 27.
Night Clear. Low 10.

Sat, 6 Jun Sunny. High 31.
Night Clear. Low 12.

Sun, 7 Jun Sunny. High 34.
Night Clear. Low 17.

Mon, 8 Jun Sunny. High 35.
Night Clear. Low 18.

Tue, 9 Jun Sunny. High 33.

[Frisk]

Special weather statement in effect for:

Central Okanagan - including Kelowna
North Okanagan - including Vernon
South Okanagan - including Penticton
Prolonged period of hot weather for Southern Interior of British Columbia.

A prolonged period of hot weather will start Saturday and continue through early next week. Temperatures will soar well into the 30S, peaking Sunday and Monday in the mid-30S.

Hot, dry weather can lead to higher fire risk. Please see the B.C. wildfire management branch website at bcwildfire.Ca for more details and fire safety tips.

Watch for symptoms of heat illness, which include - dizziness or fainting, nausea or vomiting - headache - rapid breathing and heartbeat - extreme thirst - decrease urination with unusually dark yellow urine.

If you experience any of these symptoms during extreme heat, immediately move to a cool place and drink liquids. Water is best.

Please monitor the latest forecasts and warnings from Environment Canada at http://www.weather.gc.ca.

[Frisk]

Things have definitely cooled down quite a bit. Look at all the blue in the south east. It'll probably change with the 30C weather coming up though.

[Frisk]

Dry in the northeast but it looks like they'll get some rain later this week. The forecast below is for Fort Nelson.

[Glacier]

Fort Nelson is an interesting place. Even though it's in the far north, the average temperature in the summer is higher than most of the province. Summers are also quite wet up there. July is 5 times wetter than February....

By contrast, the wettest month in Penticton (June) is only 2 times wetter than the driest month (February):

Victoria is the complete opposite of Fort Nelson in terms of precipitation. Interestingly, the driest month of the year is drier than the driest month of the year in Penticton:

[Frisk]

We're lucky that we got all that rain last week because today had some of the worst conditions that we've seen in a long time. 9% humidity in Penticton, crazy.

Kelowna:
Temperature: 33.3°C
Humidity: 15%
Wind: SSW 28 gust 41 km/h

Penticton:
Temperature: 35.3°C
Humidity: 9%
Wind: NNW 21 gust 32 km/h

[Glacier]

Worse means heat and low humidity to you? If you're talking about heat, Penction was 36.7 degrees today, and the earliest it has ever been that hot in Penticton is June 16th (1961). As for the humidity, that's crazy low. I wonder if it's a record. Ashcroft usually gives down to around 9% in a hotspell, but I don't remember ever seeing the Okanagan valley that low.

Lowest I see today:
Penticton = 9%
Ashcroft = 10%
Summerland = 11%
Puntzi Mountain = 12%
Princeton = 12%
Lillooet = 13%
Kelowna = 14%
Osoyoos = 14%
Lytton = 14%
Cranbrook = 14%
Trail = 15%
Tatlayoko Lake = 16%
Medicine Hat, AB = 16%
Kamloops = 18%
Vernon = 18%
Merritt = 19%

[Frisk]

Worse means heat and low humidity to you?

Not really sure what else to call it. Don't get me wrong, I love the warm weather, but if we're talking about the danger rating and how the heat and humidity affects it, then I think "worse" is a fitting description.

[Glacier]

We're lucky that we got all that rain last week because today had some of the worst conditions that we've seen in a long time. 9% humidity in Penticton, crazy.

That 9% reading only lasted for an hour. Overnight it gets down to about 50%, which is still quite low. Yesterday afternoon's low relative humidity numbers were quite a bit higher than the day before. Here are the typical driest spots in Canada in terms of relative humidity. I've thrown in Medicine Hat just for fun.

Hottest places in Canada yesterday:

1 Osoyoos = 34.6° C
2 Warfield = 34.3° C
3 Lytton = 33.8° C
4 Pemberton = 33.3° C
5 Ashcroft = 33.2° C
5 Lillooet = 33.2° C
5 Nelson = 33.2° C
8 Penticton = 32.9° C

[Frisk]

Today is the last day of the heat wave before things go back to seasonal temperatures. Today and tomorrow will be very windy.