Central Okanagan

Its land, ranked in BC

Shares of the land area, worked out from the Province's maps. Fire perimeters before the 1950s are less complete. A title or a past fire somewhere in the area says nothing about a given lot: a property report checks the parcel itself.

Large fires (1,000 ha or more) since 1990

Since 1990, 3 wildfires of 1,000 ha or more burned in Central Okanagan, together 11,907 ha, 9% of its land (ground that burned twice counts once). The most here was unnamed fire K50628 in 2003, 10,761 ha.

1. 2021Derickson Lake wildfire1,163 ha in all · 98% of it here1,145 ha here
2. 2018Unnamed fire K512421,370 ha in all · 24% of it here324 ha here
3. 2003Unnamed fire K5062825,636 ha in all · 42% of it here10,761 ha here

Smaller mapped fires since 2016

Since 2016, the BC Wildfire Service mapped 9 smaller fires (under 1,000 ha) that reached Central Okanagan, newest first. This season's are as mapped by November 9, 2026.

1. 2026Unnamed fire K408171.5 ha in all1.5 ha here
2. 2025Whelan Creek wildfire5 ha in all5 ha here
3. 2025Unnamed fire K514742.5 ha in all2.5 ha here
4. 2022June Springs wildfire0.5 ha in all0.5 ha here
5. 2021Long Loch wildfire63 ha in all63 ha here
6. 2021Three Forks Rd wildfire3.1 ha in all3.1 ha here
7. 2021Hilda Creek wildfire1.7 ha in all1.7 ha here
8. 2018Unnamed fire K412193.5 ha in all3.5 ha here

And 1 more

1. 2017Philpott Road - Highway 33 wildfire489 ha in all489 ha here

Small fires that were never mapped as a perimeter aren't listed: the BC Wildfire Service maps an outline for only some of the fires it records. Past fire is history, not a forecast. The chance of fire on a lot today depends on what the record doesn't show: the forest and grass around it, the slope, what has been thinned or burned since, and how far it is from a fire hall. Every BC season and large fire since 1990.

Sources: BC Wildfire Fire Perimeters – Historical, BC Wildfire Service; BC Wildfire Fire Perimeters – Current, BC Wildfire Service; BC Wildfire Fire Incident Locations – Historical, BC Wildfire Service; BC Wildfire Fire Locations – Current, BC Wildfire Service (Open Government Licence – British Columbia), as published on November 10, 2026; 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence). Outlines simplified and places measured by PlaceDossier.

How the land burned

On the Province's ecosystem map, Central Okanagan's land is 76% NDT3 (burned in large fires about every 100 to 150 years), 22% NDT4 (burned often and lightly, every 4 to 50 years), 2% NDT2 (burned in large fires about every 200 years) and under 1% NDT5 (alpine tundra and subalpine parkland). Its main biogeoclimatic zones are Montane Spruce (38%), Interior Cedar–Hemlock (30%) and Engelmann Spruce–Subalpine Fir (21%). In the dry forest and grassland of NDT4, a century of putting fires out has let many stands fill in, building up fuel that can carry a crown fire instead of a light surface fire. This is how the land burned before fires were put out, not its fire risk today. A report names the type over a lot. Every place's natural fire regime.

Source: BEC Map (biogeoclimatic zones and natural disturbance types), Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia), read 2026-10-12; areas worked out on the census boundaries.

Evacuations since April 2017

Since April 2017, the Province's record holds 2 wildfire events with an evacuation order or alert over Central Okanagan, 1 with an order. The latest order: Philpott Road Wildfire, August 2017.

1. 2025Whelan Creek WildfireJuly 2025 · evacuation alert · Regional District of Central Okanagan106 homes
2. 2017Philpott Road WildfireAugust 2017 · evacuation order · Regional District of Central Okanagan251 homes

Listed when an order or alert area covered at least 5% of the land in Central Okanagan, or lay mostly in Central Okanagan and held at least 5% as many homes as the 2021 census counted there. An order means people were told to leave; an alert, to be ready to leave. Homes are the record's own counts, area by area, shown where the areas lie mostly in Central Okanagan. The Province's record starts in April 2017: earlier evacuations aren't in it. A lot's report checks every order and alert over the lot itself, and any in effect now.

Sources: Historical Orders and Alerts, Emergency Management and Climate Readiness (Open Government Licence – British Columbia), as published on November 2, 2026; 2021 census subdivision boundaries and dwelling counts, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence). Each order and alert area placed in the municipalities and electoral areas it covers by us.

Evacuations for floods, landslides and other hazards since April 2017

None of the flood, landslide or other non-fire evacuation orders or alerts in the Province's record since April 2017 covered 5% or more of the land or homes in Central Okanagan.

Sources: Historical Orders and Alerts, Emergency Management and Climate Readiness (Open Government Licence – British Columbia), as published on November 2, 2026; 2021 census subdivision boundaries and dwelling counts, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence). Each order and alert area placed in the municipalities and electoral areas it covers by us.

13 landslides are recorded inside Central Okanagan in the Preliminary Canadian Landslide Database (version 14.0), including 3 debris avalanches, 3 earth slides and 2 debris falls. The latest with a date of its own: an earth slide, 17 Apr 2018 (listed under “Highway 33 landslide”). The database lists slides known to have happened, mapped from inventories, satellite images and lidar. It isn't a hazard map, and some parts of BC are mapped in far more detail than others. Landslides near a given lot.

The Province lists 51 dams in Central Okanagan, 27 of them classed High or above for the harm a failure would do downstream: Graystoke Dam (Extreme), McCulloch Dam (Extreme) and Postill Lake Dam (Extreme) among them. One of them is recorded as breached (failed). The class rates what a failure would do, not how likely one is; a report names the dams within 1 km of a lot. Dams in BC, by place.

12 Water Survey of Canada gauges in Central Okanagan have 5 or more years of yearly peak flows: Belgo Creek below Hilda Creek peaked highest at 19.8 m³/s in 2017 (48 years on record), Bulman Creek at the Mouth peaked highest at 2.7 m³/s in 1997 (35 years on record) and Vernon Creek at Outlet of Swalwell Lake peaked highest at 7.9 m³/s in 1974 (29 years on record), among others. 1 set its record in the last 10 years. A gauge's record is the river where it stands, not a flood line; a report gives the nearest gauge on a river by the lot. River gauges in BC, by place.

Poor-air days: at the Kelowna KLO Road air monitoring station, 12 km from Kelowna, fine particles passed the level of BC's 24-hour objective (25 µg/m³) on a median of 5.5 days a year over the 6 years with a full record, 2020 to 2025; the most was 25 days in 2021, most of them in August. Most of these days fell from June to September, the wildfire season (our reading: mostly wildfire smoke). How smoky it gets across BC.

Radon

In the Okanagan health region, 19 of the 109 homes tested (17%) in Health Canada's 2009–2011 survey were at or above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline; across BC, 143 of 1,817 (7.9%).

The survey tested about a hundred volunteer homes per health region, with one long-term test each. That gives a rough regional picture: it isn't a map, and a region where few or none tested high can still have homes above the guideline. The only way to know is to test the home: radon and buying a home in BC.

Source: Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011), Health Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Health Service Delivery Area Boundaries, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia).

Check one lot: has it burned? · is it on a floodplain map? · is it behind a dike? · is there a dam nearby? · landslides nearby? · contaminated sites nearby? · radon? · how much is too steep?

Source: Agricultural Land Reserve polygons, Agricultural Land Commission (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Fire perimeters – historical, BC Wildfire Service (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Mineral, placer and coal tenures, Mineral Titles Branch (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Preliminary Canadian Landslide Database, version 14.0 (May 2026), Brideau et al. (CC BY 4.0); 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).

The Province's monitoring records hold groundwater samples from 2 wells in Central Okanagan, 2012 to 2019, among them 2 of the Province's observation wells. The median passed Health Canada's limit for manganese (1 well) and uranium (1 well). A report names the nearest sampled wells within 10 km of a lot. A neighbouring well isn't your water: test your own. What BC's well water tests for, by place.

Mapped aquifers

6 mapped aquifers lie in Central Okanagan, most wells first.

1. 1Aquifer 464: Greater Kelowna Aquiferconfined sand and gravel (glacial)322 wells · high productivity
2. 2Aquifer 1191: Central Kelowna Aquiferconfined sand and gravel (glacial)109 wells · high productivity
3. 3Aquifer 472: Southeast of Ellison Lakefractured crystalline bedrock108 wells · low productivity
4. 4Aquifer 473: Mission, Daves and Cardinal Creek areafractured crystalline bedrock36 wells · low productivity
5. 5Aquifer 1022: Ribbleworth Creekfractured crystalline bedrock35 wells · low productivity
6. 6Aquifer 461: Upper Mission Creekconfined sand and gravel (glacial)21 wells · moderate productivity

An aquifer is listed for each place that holds at least a twentieth of it, so a sliver of one at the edge can be left out. Wells and productivity are for the whole aquifer, which can reach well beyond Central Okanagan. The province maps aquifers mostly in settled valleys, so a lot outside every outline can still have groundwater. Every mapped aquifer in BC · sampled lakes.

Sampled lakes

3 sampled lakes lie in Central Okanagan (one only partly), largest first.

1. 1Okanagan Lake350 km² · 4% of it hereclarity 4.6 m (2012–2025)
2. 2Swalwell Lake3 km²too few readings to judge
3. 3McCulloch Reservoir2 km²too few readings to judge

A lake is listed for each place that holds at least a twentieth of it or 100 ha of it. Clarity is the median summer Secchi depth; the nutrient class is our reading of Carlson's index from phosphorus or chlorophyll, not a provincial rating. Either is given only for a lake with at least 10 summer readings from open water, spread over at least 3 different years, since 2012. Most lakes have never been sampled, so a lake missing here may simply have no record. Every sampled lake in BC.

Source: Groundwater wells (GWELLS), Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Ground Water Aquifers, Water Protection and Sustainability Branch, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); BC Environmental Monitoring Data System (EnMoDS) results, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).

Normals for 1981-2010 at the Kelowna Airport station, about 3 km from the middle of the area's addresses at Kelowna (of the communities here with a station within 30 km, the one with the most addresses); ECCC has no fuller 1991-2020 set for it. * Based on at least 20 of the 30 years, short of the World Meteorological Organization's standard: treat as a rougher guide. The records are single days measured at the station: the most rain, snow and wind it saw in its record up to 2010 (ECCC's 1981-2010 sets give records over the station's whole history, so some dates are older than 1981). Each is one event, not what to expect in a year, and the lot can get more or less than the station. Elevation matters a lot in BC: a hillside lot can be much colder and snowier than the station.

Plant hardiness zone: most homes here are in zone 7a (45%); 23% are in 6b, 21% are in 5a, on Natural Resources Canada's 2025 map. Higher numbers are milder winters. What the zones mean.

Solar panels: a south-facing panel tilted at the latitude would make about 1,050 kWh a year for each kW of panels at the middle of the area's addresses at Kelowna, about 33 of it in December (estimated from Natural Resources Canada's 1998-2022 sunshine map). An open sky is assumed: the hills, trees and buildings around a lot cut it, and a report sets the lot's own skyline beside it. What solar panels would make in BC.

By the 2050s (2041-2070) at Kelowna, climate models project about 21 more days over 30 °C a year, a longest frost-free run about 45 days longer and about 14 percentage points less of winter's precipitation falling as snow, each against the same models' 1971-2000 (model projections under SSP2-4.5, a middle path for emissions). The models work on a grid of about 9 by 6 km, which averages valley floors with the slopes around them, so their own figures can sit well off a station's normals and aren't comparable with them. Their own figures there: about 41 days over 30 °C a year in 2041-2070 (range 35 to 64 across the models), against about 20 days in 1971-2000; a longest frost-free run of about 205 days (range 175 to 225), against about 160; and about 56% of winter's precipitation falling as snow (range 42% to 58%), against about 70%. The ranges run from the 10th to the 90th percentile of the models' 2041-2070 figures. The 2050s across BC.

Light at night within 1 km of the middle of the area's addresses at Kelowna: like a small town such as Gibsons, Sooke or Valemount (our reading), and darker than about 79% of BC's homes (2024 satellite record). A lot away from the centre can be much darker. How dark are BC's nights?

Lightning: around the middle of the area's addresses at Kelowna, a cloud-to-ground flash within 10 km on about 8 days a year and 0.13 flashes per km² a year, more than at 3 in 4 BC homes (the Canadian Lightning Detection Network, 1998-2025 average, on a grid of about 11 by 7 km).

Source: Canadian Climate Normals 1991-2020 and 1981-2010, Environment and Climate Change Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Plant hardiness zones of Canada (2025 map), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Medium Resolution Digital Elevation Model (MRDEM-30), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Solar position: General Solar Position Calculations (NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory; Spencer, 1971) (Public domain); Daily average solar irradiance on tilted surfaces for all of Canada (1998-2022), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Photovoltaic Potential and Solar Resource Maps of Canada (performance ratio), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Statistically downscaled climate indices from CMIP6 global climate models (CanDCS-M6), Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium, via the Canadian Centre for Climate Services (Open Government Licence – Canada); Air Quality and Climate Monitoring: Verified Hourly Air Quality and Meteorological Data (fine particulate matter, PM2.5), BC Ministry of Environment and Parks (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); VIIRS Nighttime Lights, 2024 annual composite, Earth Observation Group, Payne Institute for Public Policy, Colorado School of Mines (Elvidge et al. 2021, Remote Sensing 13(5):922), via Hengl, OpenGeoHub, Zenodo doi 10.5281/zenodo.7750174 (CC BY 4.0); Canadian Lightning Detection Network cloud-to-ground flashes (CanCPLDv1), Environment and Climate Change Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada).

The BC Energy Regulator maps about 4.4 km of active oil and gas pipeline in Central Okanagan, permitted to FortisBC Energy Inc. A report lists any pipeline within 200 m of a lot, and flags one within 30 m, where digging needs the permit holder's agreement. Pipelines in BC, by place.

The Province lists 2 active waste discharge authorizations in Central Okanagan; the commonest kinds: fruit or vegetable processing plant (2). Of these, 2 may discharge effluent to water or land. A report lists any within 2 km of a lot, and flags one whose point is on it. Permitted discharges in BC, by place.

On ParcelMap BC, the land in Central Okanagan is 7% private, 8% Crown land with a parcel drawn (7% with no title), 1% federal, 1% the local government's; no parcel is mapped over 83%, likely most of it untitled Crown land, with lakes and road allowances. A report says who owns the land along a lot's line. Crown land next to a property, and every place's land by owner.

The Ministry of Forests maps 11 active Crown range tenures (11 grazing) reaching into Central Okanagan, over 59% of its area, licensed for about 13,035 animal unit months of grazing a year in all. Outside a pound district, keeping livestock off a lot is the owner's fence to build. A report lists any tenure within 1 km of a lot. Open range and grazing in BC, by place.

The Province maps 12 registered traplines over 88% of the area and 4 guide outfitter territories over 94% in Central Okanagan. The maps are drawn over titled land too, but traplines are registered on Crown land: on titled land, anyone but the owner or occupier needs their written permission to trap. A report says whether either takes in a lot. Traplines and guiding territories in BC, by place.

Central Okanagan lies in wildlife management units 8-10 (89%), 8-22 (5%): the Hunting and Trapping Regulations Synopsis sets seasons and closed areas by unit. Hunting and shooting on your own property.

BC Parks maps 9 parks and protected areas (Browne Lake Ecological Reserve; Browne Lake Park, a provincial park; Cougar Canyon Ecological Reserve; Graystokes Park, a provincial park; and 5 more) reaching into Central Okanagan, over 12% of its land. Recreation Sites and Trails BC lists 18 sites there. A report names the nearest park and recreation site within 25 km of a lot. Parks and recreation sites in BC, by place.

Check one lot: is there a mineral claim? · power lines nearby? · pipelines nearby? · a gravel pit nearby? · a landfill or plant nearby? · logging planned nearby? · cattle on open range? · is there a trapline? · can I hunt on it? · a park nearby? · Crown land next door?

Source: Mineral, placer and coal tenures, Mineral Titles Branch (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).

Census figures are from 2021; the next census results start in 2027. Area boundaries are Statistics Canada's census subdivisions, which follow municipal and electoral area lines. The places named at the top are the official place names in the area (BC Geographical Names) with the most 2021 homes nearer them than any other name, on ISED's home points: our reading.

Source: Census of Population 2021, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence); BC Geographical Names, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Pseudo-Household Demographic Distribution (2021), Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada).