Record breaking winds bring warmth and topple power lines in the Okanagan

A weather system that brought heavy winds to the Okanagan valley not only knocked out power, but also some previous weather records.

Sunday saw three temperature records broken in the valley.

In the Penticton area, a new daily high for Feb. 25 was set at 16.3 C, breaking the previous record of 14.7 C set in 1986.

In Summerland, the mercury also reached a record breaking high of 15.1 C, breaking an old record of 14.5 C set in 1986.

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Further down the valley, in Vernon the mercury reached 13.6 C, breaking an old record of 12.5 C set in 1986.

The warm day was accompanied by a heavy winds that knocked out power for large numbers of homes across the Thompson, Shuswap, Okanagan and Kootenay areas.

“Wind brought trees and branches down onto our power lines, and all available crews are continuing to work through the night to restore power,” BC Hydro said in a statement on Sudnay.

Some customers in these areas remained without power overnight, though by Monday morning, much had been restored.