Second Driest August On Record

It’s been one of the driest summers on record in Vernon.

Cindy Yu from Environment Canada says the city has received just a small fraction of the normal rain.

“In June, July and August, we’ve received 19.8 milimetres of rain. The normal is 147 mm, so that’s about 13 percent of the normal.”

It’s been the same in other areas, including Kelowna having it’s driest summer on record.

Yu says Vernon only received 1 milimetre of rain in August, second lowest to the 0 mm in August 1999.

“The normal should be 42.3 mm, so that’s barely 2 percent of the normal,” she tells Kiss FM.

As a result of the conditions, the province has declared Level 3 drought for the Okanagan, which represents “very dry conditions,” and calls for a voluntary 30% reduction in water use.

“The implication is that a Level 3 drought could have serious ecosystem or socioeconomic impacts,” says a release from the Okanagan Basin Water Board.

Click here for the OBWB’s latest water bulletin.

It’s certainly been a strange year for weather after the wet spring which saw the second most ever rain in Vernon from March to May.

Weather stats and graphic courtesy of YVE Weather Records