After the coldest week of the year, with -20 temperatures that have not been seen in the Central Okanagan in over two years sliding in, a warm up is on the way with snow heading into the weekend.
Minus-23 is what it felt like early Thursday morning in Kelowna with the wind chill, as the mercury dipped back to -18 degrees to start the day.
Clouds quickly rolled in by daybreak, with temperatures moderating toward minus single digits by midday.
Snow started sliding through the Shuswap and North and Central Okanagan midday, and will pick up Thursday evening after a daytime high a few degrees in minus single digits gets reached.
Minus-18 is what it’ll feel like with wind chill Friday morning, with a light layer of snow on the ground as you head out in the morning.
Pockets of flurries continue under mostly cloudy skies through the final day of the first full week of February, with temperatures climbing up to around -6 for a daytime high.
Snow picks up again Friday night as an upper level low pressure system develops off the coast that will keep light snow around the region on Saturday as well.
Parts of the South Okanagan, Similkameen and Boundary Region are expecting to pick up potentially over 10 centimetres of snow, meaning fresh powder for local ski areas in the area.
The Central and North Okanagan are expecting 2 to 4 centimetres of snow by mid-weekend, however gusty winds will pick up Friday into Saturday, which will blow the fresh, fluffy snow around and reduce visibility at times, particularly at higher elevations, where winds will be strongest.
The breezy conditions will be caused by a push of cold air that will push daytime highs back to around -7 degrees on Saturday to -9 degrees on Sunday, with some clouds and snow pockets possible to finish the weekend.
Wind chill will make it feel between -10 to -25 all weekend long throughout the valley, but there is a more significant warm-up on the way next week.
Mid-minus single digit daytime highs return on Monday under a mix of sun and cloud, with gradual warming to just a few degrees shy of the freezing mark expected by week’s end.
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