File photo (Image credit: CFJC Today).

By Aaron Schulze

Dry January

Kamloops experiences ninth driest month of January: Environment Canada

Feb 5, 2025 | 6:32 AM

KAMLOOPS — Kamloops experienced its ninth driest month of January, dating back to 1891.

According to Environment Canada, 5.9 millimetres of precipitation was recorded at Kamloops Airport in January 2025, which is nearly 20 per cent of normal for that month.

Speaking to CFJC Today, Environment Canada meteorologist Matt Loney says there’s enough wintertime to continue building up the snowpack in the southern interior. However, he’s now certain there’s a snowpack deficit in the mountains.

“We have a cold outbreak now and that should eventually transition to warmer Pacific air,” Loney says. “All indications seem to be a pattern change sometime early in the middle part of next week. Depending on how the freezing levels react, we could start to see more of a building of a snowpack in and around the southern interior.”

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Loney believes the Kamloops region would need to receive nearly 30 millimetres of precipitation in February to reverse the dry January trend. The dry January follows a normal December for Kamloops.

Additionally, Loney notes the average temperature recorded in Kamloops in January was 1.2 degrees Celsius, which is slightly above normal for that month.

The B.C. River Forecast Centre’s (BCRFC) first Snow Survey and Water Supply Bulletin of 2025 showed the North Thompson and South Thompson basins at 100 per cent normal snowpack as of Jan. 1. Another snow bulletin is scheduled for Feb. 10 or 11.