Concern was high heading into the Okanagan flood season this year and for good reason.
Average temperatures were well up for May in 2018 and the region’s rapidly melting snowpack was the hard evidence.
Photo Credit: KelownaNow.Mission Creek near its peak at the Lakeshore bridge on May 10, 2018.
Mission Creek's peak outflow this year was recorded at 45.1 cubic metres per second on May 26, which only a few days after the hottest day of the month.
From the highest highs to the lowest lows, here’s a full breakdown of May temperatures, according to meteorologist Wesla English:
Average Daytime High
2017 – 21.3°C
2018 – 25.4°C
Average Daytime Low
2017 – 7.5°C
2018 – 10.5°C
The hottest day this month came on May 23, when the mercury hit a sizzling 31.8°C.
That's close to the region's record high for the May, which occurred back on May 29, 1983, when a high of 34.4°C was recorded.
Photo Credit: KelownaNow.
There was a tie between May 5 and May 10 for the coolest day in Kelowna this month, when the temperature dipped down to 6.6°C.
"May 2018 saw warmer conditions compared to May 2017, as well as the average for every May between 1981 and 2010," said meteorologist Wesla Wong.
"However, weather statistics are very complex. If we had different stations with data in another place in the valley, the outcome may be different. Okanagan meteorologists only have access to one station without any missing data and that’s the one at UBCO."
Be sure to catch Wesla's daily weather forecast every morning by 7 a.m. on KelownaNow!
