File photo (Image credit: CFJC Today).

By Aaron Schulze

Precipitation and Temperature

Kamloops experiences normal May but warmer and drier conditions en route

Jun 2, 2024 | 1:58 PM

KAMLOOPS — Kamloops may have felt cooler and wetter in the month of May, but it was a return to normal climatology.

Preliminary numbers provided by Environment Canada show Kamloops received 25.7 millimetres of precipitation, which is close to the normal 27.6 millimetres. The average temperature for May was 14.6 degrees Celsius, slightly cooler than the normal 15 degrees.

Both May precipitation and temperature numbers were abnormal in 2023, with Environment Canada recording 20 millimetres and an average 17.9 degrees in Kamloops.

Speaking to CFJC Today on Sunday (June 2), Philippe-Alain Bergeron, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, says a late season atmospheric river in the lower mainland will bring light to moderate rainfall across the Kamloops area and southern interior over the next few days. Although a dramatic pattern change is expected mid-week.

“Our confidence is growing day-to-day that there will be a largescale, big, high-pressure ridge that will be building starting mid-week,” Bergeron says. “It’s gradual warming and dry conditions throughout second half of the week and likely into next weekend. That may be breaking down between Sunday and early next week; that’s very uncertain. But we have confidence you’ll get three to four days that will be sunny and warm.”

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As of noon Sunday, the BC Wildfire Service says the fire danger rating ranks mostly very low and low for the Kamloops Fire Centre.

However, Bergeron says surfaces in B.C.’s interior are likely to dry out rapidly following the warmer temperatures later this week.

“The deficit did not get any worse, but to really be able to compensate and start to get to a lower drought code we would need excess precipitation for several months,” Bergeron says. “Longer term, we might still in trouble in terms of having the ground being very dry throughout the summer, unless we get more sustained rainfall.”