Warm temperatures, melting snow, increasing flood fears in Okanagan

May 21, 2017 | 5:15 PM

KELOWNA, B.C. — Rising temperatures are once again stoking flooding fears in the British Columbia’s Okanagan region, as lakes, creeks and rivers rise to record levels.

Environment Canada has issued an alert for several areas throughout the Interior, including Nicola, the Okanagan Valley, Similkameen and South Thompson, saying unseasonably warm weather is accelerating snow melt.

The River Forecast Centre has also issued a number of high stream flow advisories for the area, saying temperatures in the high 20s and low 30s are expected to melt snow and cause river levels to rise through Wednesday.

The Central Okanagan Regional District says the water level in Okanagan Lake sat at 342.83 metres on Saturday, just four centimetres off of where it was during major flooding in the 1990s.