File photo (Image credit: CFJC Today).

By Aaron Schulze

Tale of Two Februarys

Chilly start and warm finish averages out to a cooler-than-normal February in Kamloops

Mar 5, 2025 | 11:42 AM

KAMLOOPS — February was a tale of two extremes when it came to the temperature in Kamloops.

Environment Canada says the daytime and nighttime temperatures in February 2025 created a daily average of -3.5 C in Kamloops, which is nearly 3.3 degrees cooler than usual. The coldest night recorded in Kamloops for the month of February was -19 C on Feb. 6.

Derek Lee, Environment Canada meteorologist, credits a warmer tail end for preventing 2025 from having one of the 10 coldest months of February recorded in Kamloops.

“What was interesting about that cold snap in the beginning of February was how long it was,” Lee told CFJC Today. “It was around a two-week period of seeing temperatures below average, anywhere between 10 to 20 degrees. Usually, it would have been a shorter spell because we typically still get storms coming back from the Pacific to get rid of that cold air. But that ridge of high pressure that brought the cold air was so strong, it deflected all the storm paths away from the area.”

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The cold snap is also being credited with keeping Kamloops drier than normal. Lee says Environment Canada recorded 3.7 millimetres of precipitation at Kamloops Airport, which is down from the average 12.3 millimetres for the month of February. However, Lee notes it doesn’t rank in the Top 10 for the driest months of February for Kamloops on record.

Following that and one of the area’s driest months of January on record, Lee says Kamloops shouldn’t expect much precipitation in March. Additionally, he says the warmer start to March should continue into next week.

“Toward the end of March, there’s a little bit of uncertainty in terms of what we can see,” Lee says. “There could be a cold signal coming back once again from the north, but the extent of where the cold really lies right now is probably down into central B.C. in the Prince George area. It doesn’t seem like it’s going to come too far down south.”