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June snow not uncommon at Okanagan ski hills

Silver Star (22 cm) and Big White (14 cm) both received plenty of June white stuff on weekend
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The webcam at SilverStar Mountain Resort’s Silverwoods lift shows plenty of snow on the morning of June 11. Happy Monday! (SilverStar Mountain Resort photo)

It’s June-uary at Vernon’s SilverStar Mountain Resort.

The popular ski hill — which is set to open its summer mountain biking season June 23 — has seen more than 30 centimetres of snow in the village over the past few days.

“June is actually the wettest month in the Okanagan Valley, so it happens sometimes,” said Welsa Wong, meteorologist and SilverStar Mountain Resort spokesperson. “June also gets cool. It’s kind of our most unsettled month of the year.”

Wong measured 22 centimetres of snow Sunday morning. By Sunday evening, Wong said the village saw about 27 centimetres.

Snow caused havoc to the resort and its residents Sunday as the power went out to 1,100 BC Hydro customers for more than two hours mid-afternoon.

“It was caused by the snow, which caused problems with our equipment,” said Dag Sharman, BC Hydro community relations manager.

Sharman said snow that captures the grit and interacts with equipment can often result in equipment failure.

However, given that the resort is currently in the off-season, Wong said that the snow didn’t hinder operations further.

“As quick as we saw the snow fall, it will melt just as fast,” Wong said.

RELATED: Power restored at snow-covered SilverStar

According to Environment Canada, snow is possible Monday morning at elevations above 1,300 metres as a cool and unstable airmass is situated above the southern Interior.

Kelowna’s Big White Resort received 14 centimetres of snow over the weekend.

“It was just neat to see snow in June,” Wong said.



newstips@vernonmorningstar.com

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