Photo: Trougnouf · CC BY 4.0Electoral Area C, Cariboo is drier than 75% of Canadian towns: 510 mm of rain and snow a year
On a normal July day the thermometer tops out near 24.5°C. Summers stay cool: July afternoons here are cooler than in 67% of Canadian towns. The year is lopsided: July gets about 3.0 times what February does. Expect about 177 frosty starts a year, days when the air falls to freezing.
These are not Electoral Area C, Cariboo’s own readings: ECCC keeps no normals there, so the page uses Quesnel, 9.5 km west.
A year in Electoral Area C, Cariboo at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Electoral Area C, Cariboo’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 C, Cariboo feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals.
177 frost days and 96 days above 20°C a year
The frost season runs September to May, and December freezes nearly every night. Deep cold, under −20°C, comes on about 13 nights a year.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
Rain and melted snow: about 510 mm a year
On about 103 days a year, 1 mm or more falls.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
204 cm of snow in a typical year
Snow falls from October to May, most of all in January (about 53 cm).
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
ECCC’s Quesnel normals leave snowfall out; the figures here come from Prince George, 95 km away.
Heating a home in Electoral Area C, Cariboo
86% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to April.
One degree below 18°C for one day makes one heating degree day; the year’s days are added together.
Living with Electoral Area C, Cariboo’s climate
Gardening, time outside, winter cold and summer heat, from the 1991–2020 normals.
Seedlings can go out once the average last frost, around 22 May, has passed; autumn’s first, near 19 September, ends a season of about 119 days.
Afternoons of 17–27°C and nights of at least 8°C arrive in Jul and Aug.
Parks & trails →About 17 days a year bring a wind chill under −20, when bare skin chills fast.
Plan shade and water for about 12 days a year above 30 on the humidex.
For the weather that does damage, from ice storms to floods, see Electoral Area C, Cariboo’s hazards page.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Quesnel
Quesnel is a composite: ECCC joins 4 stations’ readings to make its 1991–2020 normals.
| Distance from the town | 9.5 km west |
| Station altitude | 545 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Snowfall from | Prince George, 95 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −41.9°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 36.5°C |
| Average wind | 5.9 km/h on average, most often from the south-east |
| Next-nearest location | Prince George, 95 km |
How Electoral Area C, Cariboo compares
Placed among 2,611 Canadian towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+, each on its nearest normals location; each dot is another location used in British Columbia.
Nearby towns’ climate
Places around Electoral Area C, Cariboo whose figures come from another normals location. No closer places have figures: these lie 90–100 km from Electoral Area C, Cariboo.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area C, Cariboo Quesnel | 24.5°C | −10.8°C | 510 mm |
| Electoral Area D, Fraser-Fort George 90 km · Prince George | 22.6°C 1.9°C cooler | −11.7°C 0.9°C colder | 590 mm |
| Electoral Area F, Cariboo 94 km · Williams Lake | 22.7°C 1.8°C cooler | −10.9°C about the same | 463 mm |
Electoral Area C, Cariboo weather by month
Average daily high and low, mean temperature, rain and snow (as water) and snowfall by month, 1991–2020.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain & snow | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −2.7°C | −10.8°C | −6.8°C | 42 mm | 53 cm |
| February | 0.9°C | −9.0°C | −4.1°C | 22 mm | 26 cm |
| March | 6.9°C | −5.2°C | 0.8°C | 27 mm | 24 cm |
| April | 13.2°C | −1.0°C | 6.1°C | 26 mm | 8 cm |
| May | 19.0°C | 3.6°C | 11.3°C | 37 mm | 2 cm |
| June | 21.8°C | 7.5°C | 14.7°C | 63 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 24.5°C | 9.5°C | 17.0°C | 68 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 24.2°C | 8.5°C | 16.4°C | 39 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 18.6°C | 4.8°C | 11.7°C | 46 mm | 1 cm |
| October | 10.8°C | 0.2°C | 5.5°C | 51 mm | 10 cm |
| November | 2.8°C | −4.5°C | −0.8°C | 45 mm | 35 cm |
| December | −2.1°C | −9.6°C | −5.8°C | 43 mm | 47 cm |
| Year | 11.5°C | −0.5°C | 5.5°C | 510 mm | 204 cm |
From −41.9°C to 11.8°C: January’s coldest and warmest days since 1991
From one year to the next, February’s average typically shifts by 4.1°C around its normal of −4.1°C, the widest of any month, while July’s shifts by 1.0°C.
Where Electoral Area C, Cariboo’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: 1991–2020 normals for Quesnel from ECCC’s climate data site, the nearest location with every month of temperature.
- Other locations: ECCC blanks a month that fails its completeness rule, so the precipitation or snowfall here comes from the next location with all twelve months.
- Comparisons: the towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ across Canada, each on its nearest normals location, without the city totals or the reserves.
- Not on this page: a sunshine figure (ECCC published none for 1991–2020) and any lapse-rate correction for height, as the town has no elevation here.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Electoral Area C, Cariboo’s climate
How warm does Electoral Area C, Cariboo get in summer?
The year’s warmest days come in July, with highs averaging 24.5°C.
How cold does Electoral Area C, Cariboo get in winter?
At its coldest, in January, the normal low is −10.8°C.
How much rain and snow does Electoral Area C, Cariboo get?
Around 510 mm a year in all, from 68 mm in July down to 22 mm in February.
Are these figures for Electoral Area C, Cariboo itself?
They come from Quesnel, which ECCC uses as the nearest normals location for Electoral Area C, Cariboo.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Electoral Area C, Cariboo →
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).