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‘Pineapple express’ heading towards Okanagan

The weather system will bring warm air and wind originating from Hawaii
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The mild weather will continue into this weekend for the Okanagan, along with some light rain.

Environment Canada meteorologist Doug Lundquist said a warm frontal system from the south is coming in, which could bring warmer temperatures into the region.

“We call this the ‘pineapple express’ or atmospheric river because it originates somewhere in Hawaii. This atmospheric river is bringing with it a lot of really warm air and some wind,” Lundquist said.

“So we expect that perhaps on Friday and Saturday, we might touch into the double digits for daytime highs with strong winds bringing down some of the warm air.”

However, the Okanagan could be hit with a cold front starting Saturday, according to Lundquist.

He said they’re expecting strong winds then, which could mean cooler temperatures.

“By Saturday night to Sunday, we might be down to the -5 C range and even maybe a little bit colder on Sunday night and into Monday morning,” he said.

“It’ll definitely be cooler into next week with daytime highs close to 0 C, which is pretty close to average for this time of year.”

Lundquist said they expect a Chinook in Kamloops, which could bring temperatures of 13 to 14 C to the area on Friday afternoon.

“That’s close to record-breaking territory for them. For us here in the Okanagan, if the wind picks up more than we forecasted, we could break double digits perhaps, and that could be close to record-breaking for us as well. But the most likely area is Kamloops.”

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Twila Amato
Video journalist, Black Press Okanagan
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Twila Amato

About the Author: Twila Amato

Twila was a radio reporter based in northern Vancouver Island. She won the Jack Webster Student Journalism Award while at BCIT and received a degree in ancient and modern Greek history from McGill University.
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