Photo: Nicholas Johansen/file

Perception, meet reality ...

Perception: July was cold and wet in the Okanagan.

Reality: July produced temperatures and rainfall that are about normal for the month up and down the valley.

"In terms of temperature, we were right around normal," says Environment Canada meteorologist Matt MacDonald. "We were one degree warmer than normal in Kelowna. Penticton, it was a mixed bag ... they were 0.6 degrees below normal, and Vernon was the opposite, 0.6 degrees above normal."

It was the rain that MacDonald says was "exceptional."

While precipitation levels were about normal, the month broke a pattern of five straight very dry Julys.

"It was the first near normal July since 2014 in terms of rainfall, which was welcome given how dry the spring season and beginning of summer had been so far," he said.

Normal rainfall for July in Kelowna is 37.2 millimetres. This year, 42.4 millimetres fell.

"Last July, we only picked up 9.4 millimetres of rain. The July prior to that, 2017, zero, not a trace of rain."

It was similar across the Okanagan.

"This July, people thought it was super wet, but it was actually close to normal. It was the preceding years that were the exceptions," said MacDonald.

Looking ahead, MacDonald doesn't expect the pattern to change much, at least through the first half of August.

"We keep scraping the weather charts for any indication of these prolonged, really strong and healthy ridges of high pressure. That is what we usually get through the last half of July and into August, and we're not seeing any of those yet.

"It's looking like the beginning of August may very well be unsettled. But, the longer-term seasonal models continue to hand on to this idea of a warmer end to the summer."