Photo: George Dean · CC BY-SA 3.0Hardly any Canadian towns wake to more frost than Electoral Area B, Bulkley-Nechako
July afternoons average 22.1°C. Summers stay cool: July afternoons here are cooler than in 97% of Canadian towns. Seasons differ by 37°C, from the coldest nights to the warmest afternoons. Heating does most of its work from September to May, in months below 10°C on average.
1991–2020 normals from ECCC’s Burns Lake Decker Lake station, 22 km north-west.
A year in Electoral Area B, Bulkley-Nechako at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Electoral Area B, Bulkley-Nechako’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in British Columbia beside it.
What a year in Electoral Area B, Bulkley-Nechako feels like
Seasons and months as ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals give them: a typical day’s high and low.
About 246 frosts and 65 warm days a year
Deep cold, under −20°C, comes on about 26 nights a year.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
506 mm of precipitation in a typical year
October brings the most rain and snow; March, the least. On about 105 days a year, 1 mm or more falls.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
Precipitation: Smithers, 113 km away (Burns Lake Decker Lake records no complete year of it).
Heating a home in Electoral Area B, Bulkley-Nechako
81% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: September to May.
Measured against 18°C: each day’s shortfall in mean temperature, added over twelve months. In heating terms, homes need more heating than 93% of Canadian towns.
Living with Electoral Area B, Bulkley-Nechako’s climate
Gardening, time outside, winter cold and summer heat, from the 1991–2020 normals.
Even midsummer nights fall below 8°C on average, so no month meets the mild-day rule of 17–27°C by day.
Parks & trails →The wind chill passes −20 on about 25 days in a normal year.
Count on some 4 humid days a year with the humidex past 30.
Storms, floods and heat waves sit outside these normals; Electoral Area B, Bulkley-Nechako’s hazards page covers them.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Burns Lake Decker Lake
The page’s figures are ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals for Burns Lake Decker Lake, one of its 450 normals locations.
| Distance from the town | 22 km north-west |
| Station altitude | 713 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Precipitation from | Smithers, 113 km |
| Snowfall from | No location within 100 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −44.1°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 38.6°C |
| Average wind | 4.3 km/h on average, most often from the north-west |
| Next-nearest location | Smithers, 113 km |
How Electoral Area B, Bulkley-Nechako compares
Against the 2,611 Canadian towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, each read from its own normals location; the dots are the other locations those towns use in British Columbia.
Nearby towns’ climate
The nearest places on a normals location of their own: those that share Electoral Area B, Bulkley-Nechako’s would only repeat its figures. No closer places have figures: these lie 97–118 km from Electoral Area B, Bulkley-Nechako.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area B, Bulkley-Nechako Burns Lake Decker Lake | 22.1°C | −14.8°C | 506 mm |
| Telkwa 97 km · Smithers | 21.8°C about the same | −10.9°C 3.9°C milder | 506 mm |
| Vanderhoof 118 km · Prince George | 22.6°C 0.5°C warmer | −11.7°C 3.1°C milder | 590 mm |
Electoral Area B, Bulkley-Nechako weather by month
Average daily high and low, mean temperature and precipitation by month, 1991–2020.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −4.3°C | −14.8°C | −9.6°C | 42 mm |
| February | −0.2°C | −14.4°C | −7.4°C | 24 mm |
| March | 4.4°C | −9.9°C | −2.8°C | 20 mm |
| April | 10.2°C | −4.6°C | 2.8°C | 27 mm |
| May | 16.3°C | −0.3°C | 8.0°C | 39 mm |
| June | 19.4°C | 3.6°C | 11.5°C | 51 mm |
| July | 22.1°C | 5.2°C | 13.5°C | 44 mm |
| August | 21.3°C | 4.0°C | 12.7°C | 45 mm |
| September | 16.9°C | 0.6°C | 8.8°C | 49 mm |
| October | 8.8°C | −3.0°C | 2.9°C | 66 mm |
| November | 0.8°C | −8.2°C | −3.7°C | 54 mm |
| December | −4.3°C | −14.1°C | −9.3°C | 44 mm |
| Year | 9.3°C | −4.7°C | 2.3°C | 506 mm |
Two years in three, February’s average lands within 3.7°C of normal, against the steadier June
The thirty-year records stretch furthest in March: a low of −34.7°C in 2003 and a high of 21.4°C in 2016.
Where Electoral Area B, Bulkley-Nechako’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the 1991–2020 normals from ECCC for Burns Lake Decker Lake, its nearest location with complete temperatures.
- Other locations: where a location publishes no full year of precipitation or snowfall, the nearest one that does supplies it, named beside those figures.
- Comparisons: all Canadian places of 2,500 or more except city totals and reserves, each read the same way.
- Not on this page: snow, with no complete snowfall normals within 100 km, sunshine, which ECCC published for no location, and any height adjustment.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Electoral Area B, Bulkley-Nechako’s climate
How warm does Electoral Area B, Bulkley-Nechako get in summer?
A normal July afternoon tops out at about 22.1°C, the year’s high point.
How cold does Electoral Area B, Bulkley-Nechako get in winter?
Winter bottoms out in January, with lows near −14.8°C.
How much rain and snow does Electoral Area B, Bulkley-Nechako get?
Around 506 mm a year in all, from 66 mm in October down to 20 mm in March.
Are these figures for Electoral Area B, Bulkley-Nechako itself?
Yes: they are ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals for Burns Lake Decker Lake, a location inside Electoral Area B, Bulkley-Nechako.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Electoral Area B, Bulkley-Nechako →
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).