According to Environment Canada, the weather forecast for the Southern Interior this week will have blue skies and rising temperatures, but not before a chance of thunderstorms sweeps through the region. “We have an upper low coming out of the Pacific heading into the Southern Interior starting today. So this weekend, including next Monday, showers are in the forecast with some risk of thunderstorms. Starting this afternoon there is a risk of thunderstorms for the area, so Kelowna, Penticton, Kamloops,” explained meteorologist Yimei Li. Environment Canada says there will be a change in pattern starting Tuesday with the upper low leaving the southern interior, making way for a flat upper ridge to build over southern B.C. “I think we’re looking at 33 to 34 for Wednesday, so right now we’re not thinking about heat warnings for the area, but it’s going to be quite warm on Wednesday and possibly beyond,” he said. With a wildfire burning near Lytton, rain is certainly needed in the area, but Environment Canada says the little rain it’s getting won’t be enough to clean up the fire. “There could be a brief relief, but still, I don’t think it’s enough to put out these fires completely. It’s kind of hard to say because there’s strong winds in Lytton as well… so right now there’s about 30 to 50 kilometers of southerly winds, so it could potentially make things worse because those strong winds will carry the fire north.” Highs later this week in the Okanagan are forecast to be 34 degrees in Kelowna, Penticton and Vernon on Wednesday and 36 in Kamloops on Thursday.
