Severe thunderstorm warning issued for the Shuswap

Jul 30, 2016 | 11:12 AM

KAMLOOPS — A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for the Shuswap early Saturday evening. 

Environment Canada issued a watch around 9:30 a.m., July 30. 

Forecaster Greg Pearce said storms could develop just west of the Shuswap mid-afternoon, moving east in the late-afternoon to early evening. 

“Of course, we had sunny, very hot conditions yesterday,” Pearce said. “Now we’ve got this cold upper trough moving down from the northwest and it’s going to result in much cooler weather today and also the development of these thunderstorms.”

Pearce said the storms could produce 10-15 mm of rain in a short period of time, and there could be a risk of hail and wind gusts of up to 80 km/h. 

“It’s going to be an interesting afternoon,” Pearce said, “just pay attention to the forecast, if we see any storms that look like they’re going to be severe we’ll likely issue a warning later this afternoon.”

Cooler weather will move into the area Sunday with more showers and non-severe storms possible. 

The sunshine is expected to return by Monday with highs in the upper 20’s.