File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Aaron Schulze

Annual Climate Stats

2023 the driest and warmest year on record for Kamloops: Environment Canada

Jan 3, 2024 | 8:09 AM

KAMLOOPS — 2023 was the driest and warmest year on record for Kamloops.

According to Environment Canada’s annual climate statistics for January to December 2023, the average temperature for Kamloops was 10.9 degrees Celsius, 1.6 degrees above normal. It ties the average 10.9 degrees Celsius set in 2015.

Meanwhile, Kamloops received 148.6 millimetres of total precipitation in 2023, which is lower than the near 50-year-old record of 153.4 millimetres set back in 1979. The weather agency says Kamloops’ precipitation in 2023 was 53.5 per cent of the normal 277.6 millimetres it sees during a year.

Brian Proctor, a meteorologist at Environment Canada, notes that the Kamloops region is dry to begin with. So receiving just over half its normal precipitation will cause issues heading into the spring.

“You’ve got people out there that are dealing with logging slash… deal with prescribed burns. It’s really so dry, there’s such a deficit that it’s very problematic to even look at burning anything right now,” Proctor told CFJC Today. “Many of the areas that look to do a lot of hay and raise cattle… if we don’t see some moisture moving into spring, it will be much more problematic.”

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Proctor says there’s still a chance for the Kamloops area to build up snowpack as temperatures are expected to cool down below seasonal levels heading into the weekend. He notes the Kamloops area’s heaviest snowfalls often comes when cold air is settled and warm air from the coast comes over top.

“We need more snow. From what some of the preliminary statistics the province has been seeing, they’re talking about snowpacks still below what they should be for this time of year. But there have been subtle improvements as we move from December into January,” Proctor says. “One of the key things we can do is look at how we’re utilizing those water resources in the short term and minimizing our impacts there, so we have more available moving into spring.”

Despite the temporary cooldown, Proctor notes the climate data suggests the El Nino winter is strong this year and February is trending to be warmer.

Environment Canada began recording Kamloops’ precipitation and temperature in 1897.