On your mark, get set, go down.听
The question is, by how much?
Two significantly different weather forecasts are offered for the Okanagan. Depending who you believe, a mild start to January is either going to continue through month-end or bitter cold temperatures will soon arrive.听
In one corner in the meteorological match-up, Environment Canada predicts a high of only minus 7 by this Sunday and an overnight low of minus 13 C. But The Weather Network has a notably sunnier outlook, with a Sunday high of minus 3 and a low of minus 7 C.听
Doing its due diligence, The sa国际传媒 Courier will remember these divergent forecasts, compare them with the Sunday reality, then report back to readers next week on which prognosticators showed themselves most capable in guessing, er forecasting, the weather.听
What is not debatable is that so far January has been a remarkably mild month in the Okanagan, following on to a balmy December.听
The average high so far has been 2.7 C in sa国际传媒 and 3.4 C in Penticton, several degrees above normal for January. And the mean temperature, an average of daytime highs and overnight lows, in both cities has been one degree.
That is also several degrees above normal, but still a way off the record mean temperature for January of 1.7 C, set in 2006.听
There has only been 3.7 cm of snow in Penticton so far this month (a running total for snow in sa国际传媒 is never available on the Environment Canada website). A normal January usually sees about 20 cm of snow in the Valley bottom.听
By early February, the chance of a protracted bitter cold spell in the Okanagan becomes increasingly unlikely. The average high through February is 4 C, rising to 10 C in March and 16 C in April.听
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