Canada is a country of many varied
climates- as you move from the very barren north that lies well and truly in
the Arctic Circle down toward the border with the United States,
you will cross a variety of weather conditions. As a whole the climate in Canada
varies from- Arctic in the very north, continental in the interior, and
maritime to temperate on the coasts- in particular on the western coast and the
surrounding islands.
The weather in Canada is varied, interesting and
definitely something that you can find the best and worst of. Its proximity to
various currents and home to coasts on the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean
means that the climate is moderated and winters on the coast wont get as
blistering cold as the inland. Summers, while short, are surprisingly warm
especially when considering its northern location.
Canada has seen its fair share of extremes in the
past, and in the Spring and Winter (particularly in the east) the strong winds
can make a -12 ºC day feel like a -30 ºC day. The coldest temperature ever recorded anywhere in Canada occur in the North
West city of Snag, within the Yukon
Territory. Snag lies close to the Alaskan border and witnesses some of the
coldest temperatures in all of Canada.
One cold February day back in 1947 saw the residents of Snag suffer through
painful minimums of -63ºC. Snag regularly
records Canada
record winter lows, partly due to its northern location and partly due to its
higher elevation.
Not far south of Snag and slightly
further east, the city of Yellowknife is
another location which often records some of the country’s lowest minimums. In
1994 between December 31 and January 19, Yellowknife
had a blistering 20 days in a row where the minimum temperature was at or below
-37 ºC - not exactly the hottest way to have spent New Years Eve! In Yellowknife the average
nighttime winter temperature is a freezing -29 ºC!
Northern Canada
Lying between 42 degrees North and
82 degrees North, a large proportion of the country lies within the Arctic Circle- making it home to long, severe and
bitterly cold winters and short summers. Many of the large water masses,
including the north seas are frozen over for much of the year. Almost all of
the country’s main harbours, with the exception of the western coast upon the
Pacific and the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland,
freeze over completely in the depths of the winter months.
In the far north-east of Canada, in
the low lying plains winters get particularly cold, as the cold arctic air that
blows from the high rises of the northern mountains blows to the south and east
and has virtually nothing blocking it, meaning the blistering wind blows with
full force into the low lying areas.
As you head further south in this
region however- upon the Atlantic shores, the winters are warmer than in
interior Canada,
particularly when the ocean waters don’t freeze. While the lows sit well and
truly below freezing point in the interior, upon the coast they will hover
around freezing so the winter months are considerably milder.
Central Canada
British
Columbia is a mountainous region that plays host to deep cut valleys as
well as high rising mountain peaks. While the coastal regions see a temperate
maritime climate, not to dissimilar from the British Isles,
the weather becomes more continental as you move into the mountains and away
from the coast. The main mountains which cover the province are the Coast
Mountains and the main chain of the Canadian Rockies- here you will find peaks
of over 10 000 feet, so there is snow cover for the entirety of the year. In
the Coast Mountains there is extremely heavy
rainfall for the whole year, which turns into heavy snowfall at higher
altitudes above 4000 feet.
The best way to gain an idea of the
difference between coastal Canada
and interior Canada is to
compare the conditions between a coastal location, like Vancouver, and
an inland location, like Prince George-
both locations lie in British
Columbia. In January Prince George sees the average
minimum sit at a painful -16 ºC and the average daily maximum is a freezing
– 5 ºC. December sees lows of -13 ºC and highs of -4 ºC, and these
blistering conditions continue into February and March with February seeing average
daily lows of -14 ºC and a maximum high of -1 ºC! The difference between the
coast and the interior is that the interior sees significantly less rainfall-
as previously mentioned, Vancouver records monthly
precipitation of over 200mm, while Prince
George only measures about 40 to 50 mm of precipitation
for the month. Summers can reach average
daily highs of 24 ºC in the height of summer and temperatures in excess of
24 ºC are not uncommon. Minimums can fall to 6 ºC in the summer and the average
high in August will sit at about 23 ºC. Rainfall, while still low,
doesn’t vary much from month to month in Prince George, though summer has a
tendency to be more wet than winter.
Coastal and
Southern Canada
The west coast is home to a beautiful climate, so much so that Vancouver-
the largest city in British
Columbia, was voted in the top three best places to live in the world
(along with Zurich,
Switzerland and Perth,
Western Australia). Vancouver’s
enviable location means that it is possible to ski in winter and swim in
summer. Along with being on the coast you are never far from one of the worlds
most popular ski resorts- Whistler Blackcomb.
You are in close proximity to the USA
border, and only a short drive from the bustling life of Seattle. Vancouver is also home to the fewest days
below freezing, often recording now more then 50 days where the mercury sits
below 0 ºC.
Vancouver in winter is one of the warmest
locations in Canada.
The daily
minimums from December, January and February are 2 ºC, 0 ºC and 1 ºC,
respectively. Daily
maximums sit at 6 ºC and 5 ºC through December and January before rising to
7 ºC come February. Winter is the wettest time of the year in Vancouver, through rain does fall throughout
the whole year. On average the winter sees in excess of 200mm precipitation
through each month and rain will fall on about 20 to 22 days per month.
Summers in Vancouver,
see June hold daily minimums of 11 ºC and maximums of 21 ºC, while July and
August warm up to daily
highs of 23 ºC. Rainfall
falls to about 30mm to 60mm for the month and this will fall on 7 to 11
days per month.
Regions
near the United States
border lay in some of the most frequented tracts of cyclonic depressions. In
fact in Winnipeg,
which lies in the south, very close to the border, once witnessed a 32 hour storm
which resulted in the city being buried under 35.8 centimeters of snow! The
city has to spend one quarter of it annual snow cleanup budget just to dig the
city out from the aftermath of one single storm. In Winnipeg in the winter there is significant snowfall,
December sees snow fall on average 9
days for the month, while January sees as many as 12 snow days. In the summer
is when rainfall
is at its highest, seeing 10 days of rain, on average, through May and June
and 9 days in July
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