You may be shopping for bedding plants in the snow
Snow in forecast for today as bone-chilling cold threatens to break record
It was all downhill from Feb. 1, weatherwise, en route to one of the coldest months in Kelowna history. February temperatures peaked at 3.3 C in Kelowna on the first day of the month before a deep and persistent arctic air mass settled over much of the province.
Depending on how frigid it got last night and gets tonight, the average temperature for the month could fall below the record of -7.8 C set in 1975.
Environment Canada issued a snowfall warning for the Central Okanagan Wednesday afternoon.
Peachland could see upwards of 10 centimetres by this afternoon, while lesser accumulations are expected in Kelowna.
After a long stretch of mild weather from November through January, during which snowfall totals in Kelowna were just 17 per cent of normal, road-clearing crews have been much busier this month.
“We’ve already spent about 50 per cent of our $1.9-million budget for the year,” public works manager Darryl Astofooroff said Wednesday. “And we might get a few more bills coming in from contractors.”
In 2018, the city budgeted $1.7 million for snow and ice control on roads, but that was in- creased this year. Year-over-year surplus funds are held in a reserve, so there’s no danger the city will actually run out of money for road-clearing operations.
Today’s weather forecast calls for a high of -1 C with a chance of flurries and an overnight low of -9 C.
March comes in Friday with a seeming mix of lamb and lion qualities, with clear skies forecast but a high only of freezing and an overnight low of -12 C.
Despite snow on the ground and the persistence of winter-like temperatures, the Greenery Garden Centre atop Dilworth Mountain opens Friday.
Last week, snow was being cleared from the parking lot, and this week metal art arrived in shipments from Mexico while staff were busy setting out earlyseason flowers and gardening supplies.
The activity, documented on the company’s Facebook page, was well-received by those eager to get growing.
“It will be like a trip to the tropics — and I can bring some of it home,” one poster wrote.