Okanagan wind storm sinks boats, topples trees

KELOWNA — Officials are still assessing the damage following Sunday night’s windstorm that swept through the area.

Some areas felt the full brunt of the storm while others did not.

Several boats were damaged at a West Kelowna marina next to Whiplash Cable Park at the west end of the Bennett bridge. At least one had sunk and was being towed to shore.

Power was knocked out in the Lumby area for a while but has since been restored.

One Global Okanagan viewer in Lumby sent a windspeed chart showing peak gusts exceeded 90 kmh at 6 p.m. Sunday.

Trees were also toppled over by the wind in the Winfield area, temporarily knocking out power.

Environment Canada says the temperature in Kelowna peaked at 27 Celsius Sunday before the windstorm and dropped the thermometer to 17 Celsius in a matter of hours.

The highest wind gusts felt at the Kelowna airport were 69 kmh.

Tonight’s low will only  be 2 Celsius, meaning there will be a risk of frost.

Wednesday is the first day of fall.