232807
231186

Kelowna  

Rain, snow in Valley

UPDATE: 8:30 p.m.

While heavy rain continues to wreak havoc in the Valley bottom, snow is coming down hard at higher elevations. 

One Castanet reader sent in a picture of white-out conditions on Highway 33 with the caption: "Avoid Highway 33 to Big White."

Environment Canada issued a special weather statement Wednesday, warning of snow on higher elevation roads Thursday, a warning that continued through Thursday evening. 

"A strong cold front will continue to move across southern B.C. tonight," Environment Canada stated Thursday afternoon. "The passage of the front will lead to lowering freezing levels and heavy snow over the highways. Reduced visibility and rapid accumulation of snow can be expected. Total snow accumulations of 10 to 15 centimetres are possible by Friday morning."

Highway cameras showed snow falling on parts of the Coquihalla and the Okanagan Connector Thursday night. 


UPDATE: 7:50 p.m.

Heavy rain continues to cause problems across the Okanagan.

On Kirschner Mountain, crews are trying to prevent more flooding and they're now working to stop mud from sliding into homes.

Al Kirschner, the developer of the recent development in the area, and his crews have been working around the clock to help home owners and he says they're doing everything possible to get water away from the homes. 

Residents on Verde Vista Road tell Castanet they saw rocks and mud sliding down a small section of their backyards.

“I’m terrified … the slope is super unstable, just sunk up to my knees on ‘solid’ ground below slope,” said one resident. 

Meanwhile, water is covering roads across the Okanagan, causing dangerous conditions. Boucherie and Gellatly Roads are flooded after a stream in the area overflowed, and water is also pooling on Lower Glenrosa Road. 

The stretch of Highway 97 between the Kelowna International Airport and Lake Country also has large parts covered in standing water. 


ORIGINAL: 7 p.m.

As heavy rains pummel the Okanagan, stream water has flooded across Gellatly Road, flowing down over Boucherie Road as well. 

Jeremy Teichreb, a resident of the area, says the water has pooled on Boucherie Road, and is slowly moving towards the lake. 

"It's almost completely filling the right-hand lane," Teichreb said.

The stretch of Gellatly Road has been closed due to erosion issues from Smith Creek flooding in the past, most recently last spring, when it was closed for three months.  

"They had closed Gellatly down to do work in order to stop stuff like this," Teichreb said. "Now that they've put all this new stuff in, this flooding is happening."

As of 7 p.m. Thursday, the road was still open. 



More Kelowna News



232391