Record breaking temperatures in the forecast for Kamloops

May 14, 2018 | 11:11 AM

KAMLOOPS — Time to break out those flip flops and sunscreen, and unfortunately in some cases, sandbags.

Environment Canada is forecasting record temperatures for much of southern B.C. this week, including Kamloops.

Meteorologist Lisa West expects highs to reach 33 degrees Celsius Monday and Tuesday.

We did not hit the record high yesterday. It was 35 degrees set this day back in 1924 and we got up to 31.9,  but West notes we have a pretty good shot at breaking the record of 31.1 degrees Tuesday.

West attributes the heat to a strong ridge of high pressure that’s bringing a very warm air mass to the region, though things should cool off a tad later this week with highs expected to dip to 27 Thursday, 29 Friday with even a chance of showers starting Wednesday afternoon.

She acknowledges the heat is bad news for those living in areas affected by flooding.

“Weather plays a huge role in flooding each spring,” West says. “One of the factors is how does it come in, so how quickly does it warm up and is there significant rain events mixed in with that.”

West says with the late start to spring, April was a fairly cold month overall, considering climate statistics.

“So, we were actually still building snowpack in the higher elevations right through the month of April and then the switch seemed to be flipped and we hit these multiple weeks of above normal temperatures and with that, you get melting of the snowpack and unfortunately, the flooding effects that follow.”