From a sweltering extended summer to a mild start to winter, 2025 was a record-breaking year for warmth for much of the Okanagan.
It was the warmest year on record for Vernon and Kelowna, and the fourth-warmest year for Penticton.
Kelowna’s average temperature for the year came in at 10.6 degrees Celsius, which was 2.4 degrees above normal and tied 1988 for the city’s warmest year on record.
Vernon’s average temperature was 10.1 C, just under two degrees above normal. That also tied the city’s record, which was set in 2023.
In Penticton, it wasn’t a record-breaking year but “certainly pretty warm,” said Bobby Sekhon, meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada. Penticton’s average temperature was 10.6 C in 2025, which was one degree above normal and good enough for fourth place on the city’s list of warmest years.
September was notably warm throughout the Okanagan this past year, making for a long summer.
“September was very exceptional where we saw records in many parts of the province, but especially through the Okanagan — Penticton, Kelowna and Vernon all had their warmest September on record,” Sekhon said. “Most of September was more summer-like than fall-like.”
The Okanagan has long seen drought or drought-like conditions, but 2025 saw some slightly good news on the precipitation front.
“Precipitation numbers are not too far off of normal for Penticton and Kelowna, at least,” Sekhon said.
Penticton saw 309 millimeters of precipitation compared to the normal of 344 millimeters — about 90 per cent of normal. Kelowna had 301 millimeters, about 80 per cent of normal.
Vernon was a little further from the normal mark, getting 305 millimeters of precipitation, which was about 68 per cent of normal.
Overall, it was a balmy year throughout the Okanagan Valley.
“Definitely summer was warm and it was just that much more abnormal as it extended into September,” Sekhon said. “It was also a late start to the snow season.”
Sekhon said it was a warm October and November as well, before temperatures finally started cooling in December.
March was a wet month for the Okanagan. In fact, it was a top-five wettest month of March in recorded history for Penticton, Kelowna and Vernon.
Environment Canada’s weather records go back to 1902 for Vernon, 1904 for Kelowna and 1908 for Penticton.