Freezing Monday brings more temperature records down in Okanagan | The Canadian News

BC has plunged into a deep freeze thanks to an icy Arctic air mass that is pushing temperatures well below seasonal norms.

“Across the province, we broke at least 40 different records (on Monday), including some in the Okanagan,” said Kasia Bodurca, weather anchor for Global News.

Bodurca said Osoyoos saw a low of -17.6 C, which broke on December 27, 1996, the record for low temperatures of -14.9 C. Summerland temperatures plummeted to -22.3 C, breaking a 1990 record of -13.3 C, Princeton was -31.9 C which broke the 1996 record of 21.8 C, Salmon Arm saw temperatures drop to -27.5 C which is slightly cooler than the record for -26.8 C set in 1996 and Vernon was -22.9 C on December 26, which broke the record of -12.3 C in 2009.

She said it also felt like -30 C in Kelowna and Kelowna’s daytime low was -26 C. It remains to be seen if that’s a record.

On Boxing Day, several temperature records were also broken in BC, although Summerland was the only location on the Okanagan to set a record. On December 26, temperatures in that southern Okanagan city fell to -19.5 C according to Environment Canada, beating the previous record of -17.8 C set in 1948.

While the effects of the Arctic air mass have led to some cold days and nights in the Okanagan, Borduca said the change in climate is not as extreme as that seen in some coastal areas.

“That’s why there are no Arctic outflow warnings that you don’t normally see in the inner sections of the Okanagan, but it’s still cold,” he said.

And it is still rare.

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“Normally we would see this set up later in the winter. It is early for the winter season to see such cold temperatures, ”he said.

“When we look at daytime highs, we haven’t seen cold temperatures like this since the 1990s.”

Bodurca said more records are likely to be broken as the cold continues, which is why it’s important to stay warm, check in on loved ones and bundle up when you’re out in the elements.

“These conditions can burn and freeze can develop in a matter of moments, especially when the cold winds are close to -30 C, as we are experiencing in the north,” he said.

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