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KEELY Watts-Watling, fresh off winning a bronze medal at the Canadian national track & field junior championships this summer, leaves for Honolulu in two weeks to begin her athletic scholarship at the University Of Hawaii
THE PNE and the Kirschner Mt. residential development in Kelowna have joined forces for a third time to provide a lot for the new home grand prize this summer.
THE CREEKS in the Mission development is opening up more lots with fantastic views overlooking Okanagan Lake in the Kettle Valley neighbourhood.
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THURSDAY July 31, 2014 The Central Okanagan’s Best-Read Newspaper www.kelownacapnews.com
Dry lightning concerns Kathy Michaels STAFF REPORTER
WADE PATERSON/CAPITAL NEWS
LARGE crowds gathered along the Waterfront Park boardwalk and Okanagan Lake beaches to watch the Canadian Airforce Snowbirds aerial team in flight Wednesday across the Central Okanagan skyline.
Snowbirds weave aerial acrobatics Kathy Michaels STAFF REPORTER
Kelowna’s downtown shores were a hub of activity Wednesday, as area residents and tourists alike sought the best spot to watch one of this country’s most beloved performances. The Canadian Airforce’s iconic Snowbirds took flight over Okanagan Lake for the first time since 2012, wow-
ing the crowds with signature manoeuvres at speeds of up to 400 knots only a metre from each other. The synchronized loops and roles that make the performance so appealing require an inordinate amount of talent and nerves under the most mundane circumstances. And local geography calls for even more skill, said Capt. Thomas Edelson. “There are a lot of unique things about Ke-
lowna,” he said. “Besides the fact it’s an awesome place to come in the summer…the number of locations we fly over water is five or less.” Looping around above the lake means fewer reference points for the pilots to keep on target. “It’s also very warm here and it’s a little higher up,” he said. “The jet has a little less performance because the air is a bit thinner, so you need to antici-
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pate where you will need power to stay in the formation.” There’s also a bit of a speed bump as the air changes in the space where land meets water, below. Lastly, the hills around the lake create a few more challenges. “You can’t fly straight and level when you come out of the maneuvers,” he said, referring to the space as a “compressed show
box.” Despite those challenges, the Snowbird team pulled off their Okanagan showcase without a hitch. “We’re excited to come back to Kelowna,”
he said. “We have a great time in the Okanagan, and we’re going to have a day off (today) to enjoy it.” kmichaels @kelownacapnews.com
Firefighters are hunkering down to wait for the fallout from a potentially problematic weather system expected to roll through the Central Okanagan in the next two days. “There is going to be dry lightening in the Okanagan today (Thursday) and tomorrow (Friday),” said Kelsey Winter, a fire information officer with the B.C. Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources. Dry lightning, combined with low relative humidity and high temperatures is creating a “dangerous” set of conditions, she said. The great hope is that there will be rain by the weekend, and that people stay aware of the tinder dry conditions in area forests, and behave accordingly. The latter, however, may be a tall order to fill, given recent news. “This week there have been 11 new fires—that’s just from Monday to Wednesday,” she said. “All of the fires have been small in size, and they’ve all been caused by humans.” A campfire ban continues to be in place throughout the Central Okanagan.
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