A cooler than normal May has set up a 乌鸦传媒渃ritical乌鸦传媒� June, according to experts, who say the next five weeks will determine the severity of wildfire season in the Okanagan.
Just like much of 2022 so far, the month of May was cooler and drier than usual in the region. This time around, however, the dry climate comes before the year乌鸦传媒檚 most pivotal weather month.
乌鸦传媒淚f we don乌鸦传媒檛 get rain in June, then we can often have a very concerning summer from the fire-weather perspective,乌鸦传媒� said Doug Lundquist, a meteorologist with Environment Climate Change Canada. 乌鸦传媒淩ight now, the outlook for summer is that it乌鸦传媒檚 likely going to be in the cooler than average category, though.乌鸦传媒�
Parts of the Okanagan, most notably Penticton, failed to reach a temperature of 25 C during May, a high that乌鸦传媒檚 been tallied in the city for 30 consecutive years prior to 2022.
Precipitation totals, meanwhile, also fell below monthly averages across the Okanagan, with Lundquist adding that Penticton乌鸦传媒檚 36 millimetres of rain comes in three less than its usual mark.
乌鸦传媒淪pring as a whole has been dry,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淭hat乌鸦传媒檚 kind of been the story in the Okanagan, no matter where you are.乌鸦传媒�
Regardless of what the long-term forecast says, Lundquist says it乌鸦传媒檚 乌鸦传媒渁ll hands on deck乌鸦传媒� for the next three months and that people should be prepared for just about anything.
乌鸦传媒淚 was looking at the model and there乌鸦传媒檚 a hint of an extreme heat event in the Northern California and Southern Oregon boundary,乌鸦传媒� the meteorologist said.
乌鸦传媒淪o, the moral of the story here is this乌鸦传媒e (in the Okanagan) should be preparing ourselves and making sure that we乌鸦传媒檙e ready for any sort of heat event.乌鸦传媒�
June is the Okanagan乌鸦传媒檚 rainiest month, according to Lundquist, who anticipates the heightened risk of wildfires if precipitation numbers are still below average between now and the week after Canada Day.
Temperatures in the region during May were nearly two degrees lower than the monthly average but the so-called 乌鸦传媒渄elayed start乌鸦传媒� to summer should be the least of people乌鸦传媒檚 concerns, according to the Kelowna-based meteorologist.
乌鸦传媒淚f we don乌鸦传媒檛 get our rain during the rainiest month of the year, we乌鸦传媒檙e in trouble,乌鸦传媒� he said. There乌鸦传媒檚 a lot of the plate here, and we can乌鸦传媒檛 just sit back and not consider being prepared.乌鸦传媒�
logan.lockhart@pentictonwesternnews.com
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