Monday’s lightning storm in the Thompson-Okanagan created more work for the BC Wildfire Service. Fire Information Officer Shaylee Stearns says since last night’s storm, eight new suspicious fires have been reported at the Kamloops Fire Station. He said 1,156 lightening strikes were recorded in the area in the last 24 hours. “Some of it has been accompanied by precipitation which is really nice to see … so we’re not just experiencing dry lightning,” he said. “We will continue to patrol with aircraft and look for any signs of later launches or interception from the lightning that passed through,” Stearns added. The eight new fires include: According to Environment Canada, 17 millimeters of rain fell in Kelowna Monday night.
“Typically in August we see about 32mm of rain in Kelowna. So to get over half that in one go is certainly remarkable, but we know we can get rain through these downpours. It’s not unusual, but it sure is remarkable,” he said. meteorologist Bobby Sekhon. Photo: BC Gov
