A cooler than normal May has set up a 含羞草研究社渃ritical含羞草研究社� 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含羞草研究社檚 most pivotal weather month.
含羞草研究社淚f we don含羞草研究社檛 get rain in June, then we can often have a very concerning summer from the fire-weather perspective,含羞草研究社� said Doug Lundquist, a meteorologist with Environment Climate Change Canada. 含羞草研究社淩ight now, the outlook for summer is that it含羞草研究社檚 likely going to be in the cooler than average category, though.含羞草研究社�
Parts of the Okanagan, most notably Penticton, failed to reach a temperature of 25 C during May, a high that含羞草研究社檚 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含羞草研究社檚 36 millimetres of rain comes in three less than its usual mark.
含羞草研究社淪pring as a whole has been dry,含羞草研究社� he said. 含羞草研究社淭hat含羞草研究社檚 kind of been the story in the Okanagan, no matter where you are.含羞草研究社�
Regardless of what the long-term forecast says, Lundquist says it含羞草研究社檚 含羞草研究社渁ll hands on deck含羞草研究社� for the next three months and that people should be prepared for just about anything.
含羞草研究社淚 was looking at the model and there含羞草研究社檚 a hint of an extreme heat event in the Northern California and Southern Oregon boundary,含羞草研究社� the meteorologist said.
含羞草研究社淪o, the moral of the story here is this含羞草研究社e (in the Okanagan) should be preparing ourselves and making sure that we含羞草研究社檙e ready for any sort of heat event.含羞草研究社�
June is the Okanagan含羞草研究社檚 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 含羞草研究社渄elayed start含羞草研究社� to summer should be the least of people含羞草研究社檚 concerns, according to the Kelowna-based meteorologist.
含羞草研究社淚f we don含羞草研究社檛 get our rain during the rainiest month of the year, we含羞草研究社檙e in trouble,含羞草研究社� he said. There含羞草研究社檚 a lot of the plate here, and we can含羞草研究社檛 just sit back and not consider being prepared.含羞草研究社�
logan.lockhart@pentictonwesternnews.com
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