-Average temperature in region for 2007 close to where it should be-

OSOYOOS TIMES-December 27, 2007-

By Paul EverestrnOsoyoos Times

The most abnormal thing about the weather in the South Okanagan this year is that it was pretty close to being normal.
Doug Lundquist, an Environment Canada meteorologist based in Penticton, said temperatures and precipitation patterns in the region for 2007 have been as close to where they should be according to historical records as they have been in some years.
The story of the year is that it's closer to normal, he said.
The average temperature for the region this year was 9.6 C. The normal annual temperature for the South Okanagan is 9.2 C.
The average high in 2007 was 15.1 C and the average low was 4.1 C. The norms are 14.6 C and 3.6 C.
In 2006, the average temperature was 10 C.
Lundquist said the normal temperatures for the region are based on data collected here between 1971 and 2000. Although there is little discrepancy between this year's temperature and the normal temperature, he said there is a pattern emerging.
The last time we had a year that was below normal was 2000. So it's the seventh year in a row that we're above normal.rnSuch a pattern is strange for the weather, he said.
If you roll the dice, every second year should be below normal.rnHistorical records also show that having an annual average temperature above the norm seems to be happening more frequently.
In the last 22 years, only three of the years were below normal, Lundquist said, adding that for the 15 years prior to 1986, 11 of them were below normal.
It seems 1986 was a turning point for the South Okanagan.rnAnd even though 2007 was above normal, it was the third-coldest year for the region since 1998.
Despite being so close to where the temperature should be, the region still experienced a number of weather anomalies this year.
July, for example, had an average temperature of 22.4 C for the month.
Normally we're only 20.4, Lundquist said.
It was the fifth warmest month for the South Okanagan since 1941 and the hottest month ever for the West Kootenays, he added.
The hottest day for Osoyoos was July 12 with a high of 39 C.
In terms of precipitation, 313 mm of rain or snow fell in the region so far this year. The norm is 332 mm and Lundquist believes the area might be bang on with that number by the end of December.
April and August were dry months this year. A little more than two mm fell in April, as compared to a norm of 26.6 mm.
August was the eighth driest month since 1941 with 4.8 mm of rain falling. The normal amount of rainfall for August is 30.7 mm.
On the other hand, June saw 61. 2 mm come down. The norm is 38.9 mm. July and October were also well above average.
But that's the way a year should go, Lundquist said.
That's what you should expect to see in a year. Some amounts are above, and some are below.
And because weather conditions are so close to where they're supposed to be, Lundquist couldn't provide an explanation as to why Mother Nature behaved the way she did this year.
There's nothing I can think of, he said.