File photo (Image credit: CFJC Today).
June Precipitation

Kamloops expected to have warmer summer but could have normal amount of precipitation: Environment Canada

Jul 4, 2024 | 7:11 AM

KAMLOOPS — A normal month of June didn’t worsen the drought situation in Kamloops.

Numbers provided by Environment Canada show Kamloops received 30.5 millimetres of precipitation in June, which is what the weather agency considers within range of the average 37.4 millimetres.

The monthly average high temperature in Kamloops was 24.2 degrees Celsius, which would place 80th out of Environment Canada’s 120 years of records for the month of June.

Jennifer Kowal, an operational meteorologist with Environment Canada, says their seasonal forecast is still putting most of B.C.’s Interior – including Kamloops – at a 60 per cent chance of being above normal temperature from July to September.

However, she says Environment Canada is not forecasting a below normal amount of precipitation.

“We’re forecasting us just to be average for the entirety of the summer,” Kowal told CFJC Today. “A little bit warm this summer but hopefully paired with enough precipitation to keep us out of that extreme drought.”

The average precipitation for Kamloops in July is about 32 millimetres of rain. However, Kowal notes that Kamloops hasn’t received that average amount for the month of July since 2019.

B.C.’s provincial drought map currently shows Kamloops experiencing drought level one on a scale of zero to five.