Canadian Climate

Canada's capital, Ottawa, has the coldest average temperature of any capital city in the world.

Victoria is the city with the lowest annual average snowfall: 47centimetres.

Winnipeg has the sunniest winters with the most hours of sunshine during December, January and February: 358 hours.

The most humid city is Windsor with the highest average vapour pressure, .78 kilo pascal, during June, July and August.

Chicoutimi has the greatest number of days per year with blowing snow: 37 days.

Corner Brook is the snowiest city with an annual average snowfall of 414 centimetres.

The city with fewest days below freezing is Vancouver with an average of 51 days per year with freezing temperatures.

The city with the coldest winters, according to the average nighttime temperature during December, January and February, is Yellowknife with -29.9 degrees Celsius. It is also the coldest city with a mean annual temperature of -5.4 degrees Celsius and it has the sunniest summers with the most hours of sunshine during June, July and August: 1037 hours.

The city with the shortest frost-free period is Thompson, with 64 days.

Kamloops has the warmest summers with an average daytime temperature of 27.2 degrees Celsius during June, July and August.

The sunshine capital is Estevan with the greatest number of hours of sunshine per year: 2500 hours. Estevan has also the highest annual number of hours per year with clear skies (between zero and two-tenths sky cover): 2979 hours.

St. John's is the city with the greatest number of days per year with fog: 121 days; the windiest city with the greatest average annual wind speed with 24 kilometers per hour; and has the greatest number of days per year of freezing precipitation: 38 days.

Prince Rupert is the cloudiest place with 6123 hours per year with overcast skies (between eight-tenths and total sky cover). It also has the fewest thunderstorms days, 3 per year. Prince Rupert is also the wettest city, with a total annual precipitation of 2552 millimetres.

London is the city which has the most days per year with thunderstorms: 36 days.

Kelowna has the calmest winds with the greatest percentage of wind observations per year of calm conditions (39%).

The lowest temperature recorded in Canada is -63 degrees Celsius at Snag, Yukon Territory, on February 3, 1947.

The most extreme change in temperature took place in January 1962 in Pincher Creek, Alberta, when a warm, dry wind known as "Chinook" brought the temperature up from -19 degrees Celsius to 22 degrees Celsius in an hour.

Medicine Hat is the driest city with 271 days without measurable precipitation.

The heaviest snowfall in one day was 118.1 centimetres at Lakelse Lake, B.C., January 17, 1974.