Kelowna

Records are made to be broken or, in this case, shattered.

Photo: Trevor Rockliffe - Castanet

Record rainfall in June caused this manhole cover to come off from the pressure.

June, 2012, will go down as the wettest June on record in Kelowna. And that's saying a lot, records have been kept since 1968.

According to meteorologist Doug Lundquist, 107 mm of rain fell in Kelowna last month shattering the record of 103 mm established back in 1990.

June is the wettest month in the Central Okanagan, averaging about 41 mm of rain annually. May (39 mm) and July (37 mm) are second and third in terms of wettest average months in Kelowna.

"This year, it was a monsoon season on steroids," says Lundquist.

A significant amount of rain (more than .2 mm) fell in Kelowna on 20 of 30 days in June.

Kelowna's average temperature for the month was 14.6 C, a 'significant' drop from the average of 16.3 C.

Penticton also established a new rainfall record in June. 97.1 mm of rain fell last month in the Peach City bettering the old record of 97 mm set back in 1913.

Penticton's average rainfall in June is 39 mm.

Vernon on received 85 mm of rain compared with its average of 54 mm.

June's rainfall in Vernon didn't even crack the top three in terms of wettest on record.

Photo: Kelly Hayes - Castanet File Photo

Hot, dry conditions will push the thermometer over 30 by the weekend

If you've been waiting for summer to arrive, Lundquist says you can finally discard your flippers for sunscreen.

Lundquist says the typical transition between wet and dry conditions is between July 4 and 10, so we're right on track.

A high pressure system is rolling into the Okanagan meaning we can expect temperatures well above normal for the foreseeable future.

He expects temperatures to reach the mid 30's by next week. The average for July is about 28 C.

While there is no rainfall forecast for the immediate future, Lundquist warns thunderstorms are a possibility over the next several days as we transition into the hot, summer conditions.

Folks, summer, is finally upon us.