The Okanagan College weather station at Nickel Plate Nordic Centre has been operational for about 16 Months. We've been collecting hourly data for that period (with a few short segments of missing data).  Below is the data for air temperature (at 2m above ground), solar radiation (silicon pyranometer) and wind speed (~3m above ground, probably doesn't accurately capture wind speeds from south or north due to sheltering effects of the adjacent forests).

The salmon run in the Okanagan River at Penticton is winding down. There are still fish in the river, but the corpses are piling up and the smell is certainly noticeable in the area. It's been great to see so many fish in the river and exciting to see what comes in the future with the new hatchery and continuing habitat restoration efforts.

This post was delayed a bit...  A few weeks ago was BC Rivers Day.  As a happy coincidence, the EESC 101 students from OC Penticton were scheduled to carry out a lab assignment to characterize stream health along 3 small reaches of lower Ellis Creek. It was a spectacular day to splash around. The data collection went really well and the groups seemed to have a lot of fun getting out of the classroom and into the natural environment. The reports are in and the results show that lower Ellis Creek is in poor to moderate condition as salmonid habitat (according to a modified version of the Streamkeepers assessment method). Can't wait to do it again next year.

At the same time we were working, a group of volunteers were planting seedlings in the riparian zone at the outlet of Ellis Creek. A great day was had by all.

It's a good year for salmon in the Okanagan. On a short walk today the boys and I saw sockeye and kokanee in Ellis Creek, Shingle Creek and the Okanagan River. There have also been reports of a black bear hanging out along Ellis Creek and the oxbows feasting on carp while waiting for the salmon to come into the shallower water. Awesome for the public to be able to see this so close.

As the final event of the BC Environmental Articulation Committee meeting that we hosted at the OC Penticton campus, Ellen Simmons of the En'owkin Centre provided a tour of the Ecommunity Place Locatee Lands.  This site is some of the last remaining relatively natural floodplain habitat along the Okanagan River in the Penticton Area. During the tour we discussed habitat restoration efforts to support a number of endangered and threatened species (e.g., tiger salamander and yellow breasted chat) and indigenous use of plants from the area. Thanks to Ellen for a great tour to a beautiful site.

One of the best parts of teaching is getting the students outside to see what we have been talking about in class. Last weekend we had a great morning touring some of the local sites.

They fall for it every year...

There has been lots of new snow at Nickel Plate over the past month. The snow is about 35-40 cm higher up the weather station. Downloading today was miserable, -14C and blowing snow made for very cold hands!

Introducing the Jackrabbits at Nickel Plate Nordic Centre to some snow science. We looked at snow layers in a pit, probing for deep snow and looking for animal tracks.  A great day!