Okanagan weather: Unusual winter so far throughout region

If it feels like there’s more snow than usual for this time of the season, it’s because there is.

“Usually by the end of December, we only have about 12 centimetres of snow on the ground in Kelowna,” said Global Okanagan meteorologist Peter Quinlan.

“This year, we had almost double that, 23 cm on the ground on December 31. So it’s way above average.”

Okanagan residents are not getting much of a break, weather-wise, with lots of snow and early season cold temperatures.

“We saw record-breaking cold, falling as cold as almost -28 C on the 27th of December, wind chills into the minus 30s, and that cold snap lasted for quite some time,” Quinlan said. “So definitely an unprecedented part of winter.”

The colder and snowier winter is due to what’s known as a La Ninia climate pattern.

The latest storm that passed through the valley on Wednesday night and into Thursday morning brought with it snow accumulations of up to 25 cm in certain areas.

“This was an impressive storm,” Quinlan said.

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The consistent snowfalls have kept Kelowna’s snow-removal crews extremely busy.

“They’ve been at it since early December,” said Geert Bos, the city’s manager of public works. “The first event this year was Dec. 5, and we got two events in there. But since Dec. 24, Christmas Eve, the crews have been going 24/7 gangbusters.”

Bos said the city has hired more contractors than in years past to keep roadways clear.

“As of right now, there are 45 pieces of equipment out there doing snow removal,” he told Global News.

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According to Bos, the challenge is where to put all that snow because once accumulation surpasses 40 cm, finding a place to dump it becomes a problem.

“We are well past 40 cm, so it’s really about removing the snow,” Bos said. “But guess who’s removing the snow? Those are the same folks that have been out there since Christmas.

“We’re relying on a break in the weather patterns to be able to shift those folks that are currently in winter-maintenance mode, so they can switch to snow removal mode.”

According to Quinlan, a break in the weather may come on the weekend. However, looking long-term, it looks like Okanagan residents are in for a colder and snowier remainder.

“It looks like January will be trending below normal,” Quinlan said.

“February, we’re also expecting to be below normal, but also snowier and wetter than normal conditions expected through the winter.”

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