Weatherman can’t tell us how much snow we had

Snowfall no longer measured in Kelowna, but it is in Penticton and Kamloops

February was a snowy month for Kelowna, but Environment Canada doesn’t know how much snow fell in the city.

“NAV Canada no longer takes snow measurements for Kelowna,” said Doug Lundquist, meteorologist for Environment Canada.

Snowfall measurements in the region are only taken in Penticton and Kamloops, he said.

“Kamloops ended up having the fourth snowiest February on record.”

In Penticton, the normal snowfall in February is eight centimetres. This past February, 24 centimetres of snow fell in Penticton.

“I don’t think it will be in the top five, but it’s quite a bit above average,” said Lundquist.

The average temperature in February in Kelowna was –3.2 C, compared to the normal –0.9 C.

“Perhaps because we’ve been used to milder winters it felt a little worse than it has in the past,” said Lundquist.

The precipitation, which includes rain and melted snow, was 25 millometres in February in Kelowna, compared to the normal 19 mm.

Environment Canada considers March 1 the first day of spring.

This winter in Kelowna, the average temperature was –2.3 C, compared to the normal –1.9 C.

There was also 107 mm of precipitation, compared to the normal 80 mm.

“February was definitely colder and wetter, but the warmth earlier in the winter somewhat cancelled out the coldness of February,” said Lundquist. “It was a winter of going back and forth between warmer than average and colder than average. Overall, we ended up close to average, even though there were some colder and warmer periods.”