Unpredictable weather systems, such as the one that just poured significant amounts of rain and snow in the southern interior, make it difficult for the man in charge of managing water levels in Lake Okanagan.
“A lot of people ask me today where the lake is going to go and I don’t quite understand why I don’t know how much rain is coming,” dam manager Shaun Reimer said.
We were hit by the edge of a bass that went up from Montana and settled south of Alberta.
Such systems moving from the east can be problematic, says Environment Canada senior meteorologist Matt Loney.
“We call them uphill because in Alberta it’s getting closer to the west and it’s actually moving downhill and putting rainfall on the mountains, in the opposite direction to normal. Which causes all sorts of problems, ”says Loney.
Fresh mountain snow can also be a cause for concern.
Sandra Follack, the coordinator of emergency operations for the Central Okanagan Regional District, said that the timetable for the impact of the merger on the central Okanagan waterways has been brought forward by about a week.
“It’s very difficult when we’re trying to reach our annual maximum in the lake to supply water for fish and irrigation and stuff, and then we nail something like this. Where the inflows are much bigger than we have the ability to get out through the Penticton Dam, ”Reimer adds.
So what’s up? Another system is expected to move on Wednesday night.
“This one doesn’t look as significant as we’ve seen, although there will be some localized areas of rain,” Loney says.
“It doesn’t look like the southern Okanagan area is as affected as this previous system. And then, coming into the weekend, we don’t see any major system. Maybe a couple of 5 to 10 millimeter events.” .
Loney says short-term projections indicate that wet conditions will continue over the next week or so, and then we could start to see warmer, drier weather in late June.