Snow dump nearly a record breaker

Sunday's snowfall was nearly a record breaker.

The Okanagan was blanketed with over 16 centimetres of snow -- equal to what usually falls in all of February.

Environment Canada Meteorologist Doug Lundquist says several snowfall records were nearly broken.

Penticton received 17 centimetres of snow -- the second-highest recorded snowfall amount for a single day in February.

The 16 centimetres which fell in Kelowna and West Kelowna placed it in the top four single-day snowfall amounts for February in recorded history.

Sunday's snowfall was a textbook example of northwest flow -- a weather pattern which facilitates heavy precipitation and unusual weather.

"What happens in a northwest flow is the mountains don't take out all the moisture out of the atmosphere. And we are close enough to the moisture source, the ocean, and the heat of the ocean that we get warm air aloft. But because of that flow out of the northwest the warm air can't work its way to the surface to turn it to rain," says Lundquist.

While more precipitation is expected next weekend, Lundquist says it won't compare to this past weekend.