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The Okanagan Valley bottom saw its first significant snowfall on Monday, after the second driest January on record.
“When we hit January we really did see a much drier trend, a sort of cold dry,” said Dave Campbell of the River Forecast Centre.“That limited the snow accumulation through at least through January and even the first half of February.”While the valley bottom had continuously dry conditions all winter, the snowpack across the region is at 84 per cent of normal.“I think the snowpack in the Alpine, which is the source of the water for the lake, etc., is in good shape. From that perspective, not too much to worry about at this point,” said Environment Canada meteorologist Chris Doyle.According to Environment Canada, precipitation numbers varied in the region over the winter.
From November to December the average amount of precipitation is 94 mm, but only 41 mm came down. In January eight mm fell, compared to the average of 31 mm. So far in February, 7 mm were recorded on a monthly average of 19 mm.
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“The Okanagan itself is a very dry climate and that’s one of the other challenges, is a lot of the water supply that we get to communities, to the rivers, to the lake systems, really relies on that winter snowpack to help replenish on a year to year basis,” said Campbell.Looking ahead, the River Forecast Centre anticipates a shift in the snowpack with more precipitation than snow.“If it’s a degree or two warmer that can really impact the amount of snow accumulation we get during the winter, just because the temperatures are warm enough that we’re getting more rain rather than snow,” said Campbell.
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