Holy smokes, what a summer.
With the exception of the summer of 2016 – which included endless rain in June and unseasonably cold and rainy weather for the first two weeks of July – we have been blessed with some of the best weather in Canada during the summer months for most of the past 20 years.
But this summer has truly been remarkable as we haven’t had a drop of rain since June 10.
That’s almost three consecutive months – or 90 days – without a single drop of precipitation. That’s simply incredible.
With the endless hot and dry weather, we have, for the most part, managed to avoid the massive wildfires that have covered much of northern and central British Columbia for the past two months.
There have been some small wildfires in our area, but nothing that has burned out of control and caused massive damage.
For that, we are truly blessed.
Ironically, two years ago during another scorching summer, it was the South Okanagan that got hit the hardest as wildfires raged in every direction in late August for a couple of weeks.
As everyone who lives here knows, the only negative to this incredible summer of sunshine and heat has been the massive amounts of smoke that have covered much of the Okanagan Valley at various times over the past two months.
With so many large fires burning out of control, smoke has covered large swaths of the province, including here in Osoyoos, on numerous occasions in July and August.
Without the smoke, there literally hasn’t been a bad day of summer weather since early June.
Most of us lucky enough to call the South Okanagan home appreciate the wonderful spring, summer and fall weather we all get to enjoy as residents of this beautiful part of the world.
Due to this exceptionally long stretch of hot and dry weather, there are no doubt a lot of us in this region who certainly wouldn’t be upset if clouds moved in some time soon and dropped significant amounts of rain.
It would be such a relief to step outside after weeks of blistering heat and feel the cool and refreshing change in temperatures.
While long stretches of hot and dry summer weather are the norm in the South Okanagan, the summer of 2017 could set new records for the least amount of precipitation.
If the skies don’t open up before Sept. 21, that will mean we didn’t get a single drop of rain throughout the entire summer.
There are many reasons why so many of us choose to live in this wonderful part of the world, but the glorious summer heat and sunshine is arguably the biggest reason.
We should all consider ourselves blessed to have enjoyed one of the best summers in recorded history – even if we all got a little smoke in our eyes along the way.
