Map of Canadas climate...

Find more Canadian weather information.

There's no one Canadas climate as we have a few...

With this much territory, you would too...
This page gives a map and descriptions for you...
Enough with the poetry, on with the show.

Canadian weather has four distinct seasons

Canadian climate has a lot to offer.  From the cold Arctic tundra to the mild temperate rainforest, Canada has one of the world's most diverse climates.  Warm summers and cold winters make it an ideal place to study climate change and global warming because Canadian weather patterns might affect the rest of the world.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC):

"Climate in a narrow sense is usually defined as the average weather, or more rigorously, as the statistical description in terms of the mean and variability of relevant quantities over a period of time ranging from months to thousands or millions of years. The classical period is 30 years, as defined by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). These quantities are most often surface variables such as temperature, precipitation, and wind. Climate in a wider sense is the state, including a statistical description, of the climate system."

The current situation with Canada's Climate

What does it mean? Anybody's climate, including Canada's, describes the weather for a part of the world, at a given time of year, without the benefit of a forecast.

If you come to Canada sometime next year, for example, here's what you should expect. A detailed description would tell you what temperatures to expect, if there will be rain, strong winds, or snow.

First of all, Canada is one of the biggest countries in the world.  It spans more than four time zones and has land ranging from temperate mid-latitudes in its southern border all the way northward to 80°N.

That means Canada's climate is a unique and varied blend.  Several areas, each with its own big influence, like:

• latitude
• nearby oceans and lakes
• mountains, and even
• Vegetation (surface cover)
• cities.

Canada's current weather is governed by a so-called air mass affecting a particular region at any given time.  Several of these influence Canada's climate at once.  The terms maritime-tropical, continental-polar, arctic, etc., define the temperature (generalized by the second word in each two-word phrase) and humidity characteristics of a large blob of air. 

Even though they move around, many display quasi-permanent qualities (moving, but not too far) for a significant part of each year.  It certainly affects regional climates and helps define Canada's climate.

Climate and weather classification for Canada

We know Canada has different climates.  The Köppen Climate Classification is an elementary system that draws climatic conclusions based on vegetation type and amount.  The southwest city of Vancouver, surrounding coastal regions, and islands get a Köppen code of Cfb.  Most of the time, the capital C means cool, humid air, like in England.

The f means no distinct dry season and the small b means comfortable temperatures in the summer (around 20°C).

Here's where Canada's climate is mildest.  East of Vancouver, southern British Columbia has high mountains with a polar climate called Highland H, interspersed with deep, often dry valleys.  The cities of Kelowna and Kamloops, and other places in the deep valleys, might have Koppen BSk climates, which means there's less precipitation, big day/night and summer/winter temperature differences.  Most of the southern and central interior is Dfb, where the D means continental conditions: also big temperature differences but not quite as dry.

Out of the mountains, as you head east, you'll find a large sweeping area of Dfb climates with great summers for agriculture, some rain but not too much, and cold, dry winters.  Palliser's Triangle, especially, is often influenced by the hot US deserts south of here.  It stretches from Calgary climate area into southern Saskatchewan, where the hottest and driest climatic extremes of Canada are found (semi-arid grassland steppe: Medicine Hat, Regina).  

There's a cooler, slightly moister band of Dfb north and east of here, including the humid continental cities of Edmonton and Winnipeg.  In the north you'll find the less-populated Boreal Forest with its Dfc climate - short summers and harsh winters.

Let's talk about the largest part of Canada's climate.  In general, northern British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec (The Canadian Shield), as well as Labrador, the southern Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut have the code Dfc (I think it means "Darn friggin' cold!").

There are arctic climates further north classified as ET, tundra.  Canadian land has permanent ice caps, coded EF, rather than large sheets like those in Greenland, the Arctic Ocean and Antarctica.  

Let's head south to the southeastern part of the country.  Toronto's golden horseshoe gets its name from the most densely populated tract with the warmest climate in Canada.  The climate is Dfa in some spots, especially down south near Lake Erie and west to Windsor.  Summers are very warm and winters are short.  

The rest of southern Ontario, including Ottawa, is Dfb, and the north is Dfc.  Along the St. Lawrence River and through Halifax and all the maritime provinces, the Dfb extends eastward into Montreal.  It's more humid here, with warm summers and cold winters.

Fill in the name of your city in the blank on this page to get detailed climate information for Canada.  Then you get expected normal weather for every month and a sense of variability.

Canadas Climate Details

Here are some contour plots showing Canada's climate:

Average Annual Temperature

Temperature map for Canada

For every locale in the country, this plot shows the average temperature in degrees Celsius (°C) 24/7 over 365 days.  The data in these plots was extracted and compiled by Environment Canada and covers 1981 to 2010.  Here's a bigger version with greater resolution: https://stuffintheair.deviantart.com/art/Canada-Annual-Average-Temperature-52717107

Average July High Temperature

July daily average high temperature

Here's the average daily high temperature for July, the warmest month.  Every summer, each place can expect to surpass the corresponding temperature 50 days or more.  Larger version: https://stuffintheair.deviantart.com/art/Canada-July-Average-High-Temperature-527172257

Average January Low Temperature

Winter Low Temperatures in Canada

For the whole country, this plot shows the average daily low temperature in January, the coldest month.  The most notorious aspect of Canadas climate.  Around 50 nights out of the year, each place gets colder than the corresponding temperature.  Larger version: https://stuffintheair.deviantart.com/art/Canada-January-Average-Low-Temperature-527171848

Average Windspeed

Windspeed map for Canada

Here's the average wind speed everywhere, in kilometres per hour.  See a larger version at: https://stuffintheair.deviantart.com/art/Canada-Annual-Average-Windspeed-527174263

Average Precipitation Total

Precipitation in Canada

For each region, this plot shows the total precipitation in millimetres from all rainfall and melted snowfall.  Take note of how dry the prairies are and how much rain falls on the coast. 

Larger version: https://stuffintheair.deviantart.com/art/Canada-Annual-Precipitation-527173492

Average Number of Days with Snow on the Ground

Days with snow on ground in Canada

How long are our winters? It varies by location.  You can use this figure to compare winter durations (in days) if you consider winter to be a time with at least 1 cm of snow on the ground.  There are some spurious numbers in the Arctic region, but the trend is right.  Larger version: https://stuffintheair.deviantart.com/art/Canada-Annual-Number-of-Days-with-Snow-On-Ground-527173941

Average Sunshine as a Percent of Daylight Hours

Sunshine Percentage in Canada

You'll love the southern prairies if you like sunshine.  You can see here how many daylight hours the sun shines brightly.  Larger version: https://stuffintheair.deviantart.com/art/Canada-Annual-Sunshine-Percent-527173028

Average Frost-Free Growing Season

Canadian Average Frost-Free Season (Days)

Here's the average gardening and growing season for each area.  Each year, it shows the mean number of consecutive frost-free days.  Larger version: https://stuffintheair.deviantart.com/art/Canada-Annual-Frost-Free-Days-527172693

Here's a Canadian classic - Seasons in the Sun.

I have a lot of other great songs on my Youtube channel. Enjoy!

Navigate back from Canadas Climate to the Weather Canada web page.

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Have you ever visited Canada and experienced our climate?

An overview of the climate and air masses of Canada.  Also a list of the major cities.

Do you have concerns about air pollution in your area??

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Thank you to my research and writing assistants, ChatGPT and WordTune, as well as Wombo and others for the images.

GPT-4, OpenAI's large-scale language generation model (and others provided by Google and Meta), helped generate this text.  As soon as draft language is generated, the author reviews, edits, and revises it to their own liking and is responsible for the content.