A storm blew through the Okanagan on Tuesday night, bringing intense flashes of lightning and power pole-toppling winds.
“Last night was pretty active for lightning right through Southern B.C.,” said Gary Dickinson, a meteorologist with Environment Canada.
He said that Environment Canada measured around 100 ground hitting lightning strikes overnight, along with wind speeds of up to 40 km/h in Kelowna and 60 km/h in Penticton.
“We had a cold front that swept through the area. … With daytime high temperatures flirting with the low 20s C during the day and the cold front moving through, it just caused a big change in the weather … and that helped create lightning and strong gusty winds.”
Dickinson said that in the summer, it’s more common to see a cold front go through, but Tuesday was a warm day with temperatures across the Southern Interior flirting with temperatures in the low 20s C.
“It’s not seasonable, and it doesn’t happen very often,” he noted, adding the weather shift will bring more seasonable temperatures around the valley.
The odd weather did create some weather related challenges.
Early Wednesday, Drive BC was reporting that Westside Road was closed in both directions at Six Mile Creek Road due to downed hydro lines. An update on the closure was expected mid morning.
BC Hydro was also reporting power outages from Peachland to Vernon, as trees knocked down powerlines.
The hardest hit were communities along Westside Road, and altogether there were close to 2,000 homes without power.
For the full list of outages visit BC Hydro’s website.
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