Environment Canada meteorologist Bobby Shekhon said Monday’s rain across the Okanagan Valley has a 1-in-10-year return rate of how much rain fell that afternoon. “It’s a pretty rare occurrence to see that much rain at once, in this part of the Okanagan,” he said. According to climatologists, 12.3 millimeters of rain was recorded at Penticton Airport, Osoyoos saw 14.1 millimeters and Summerland got 15.7 millimeters in that afternoon window. While July is one of the wettest months of the year for the Interior, bringing with it thunderstorms, strong winds or hail, the amount of rain was unusual. “It’s not often that we see this intensity of storms come through a residential area like Penticton and obviously cause catastrophic damage,” Sekhon said. Penticton has sixteen people still evacuating their homes and saw 86 reports of damage through their rapid flood response assessment team. The Okanagan isn’t out of the woods yet. “On Wednesday we will have a risk of thunderstorms in the area. These storms could bring showers, bringing up to 20 millimeters of rain,” Sekhon said. “Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re going to see the same event that we saw [on Monday]but we know the possibilities that can arise if intense storms land in these kinds of vulnerable areas where they can cause these impacts.” On Thursday, an upper low will track through BC and with it, Sekhon said there will be more instability with the risk of a severe storm. “That’s going to be something to watch because they could have heavy rainfall as well. …There’s a chance of localized heavy rainfall that we’ll just have to watch out for.” The reminder means “When thunder rolls, go indoors” and to keep drains clear, heeding the forecast from Environment Canada and the River Forecast Centre. In the long-range forecast, Sekhon said things will start to calm down a bit on Friday and Saturday, with a ridge of high pressure on Sunday starting to build into next week, which looks pretty warm for the Okanagan. “We will see an increase in temperatures and some warm dry weather probably next week.”
