Afternoon heat in Electoral Area D, Cariboo trails that of 94% of Canadian towns
January nights here settle around −10.9°C. The year swings widely: the coldest month’s nights and the warmest month’s afternoons are 34°C apart. It is a dry place: less rain and snow fall here than on 78% of Canadian towns. The furnace earns its keep from October to May, the months that average under 10°C.
ECCC publishes no normals for Electoral Area D, Cariboo itself; the figures are those of Williams Lake, 5.0 km east.
A year in Electoral Area D, Cariboo at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Electoral Area D, 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 D, Cariboo feels like
Seasons and months as ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals give them: a typical day’s high and low.
About 186 frosts and 72 warm days a year
The frost season runs September to May, and December freezes nearly every night. On about 14 nights a year the air falls below −20°C.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
Rain and melted snow: about 463 mm a year
The most falls in June, the least in February. Some 96 days a year see 1 mm of rain or snow or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
About 176 cm of snow a year
Expect snow from October to May, with about 42 cm in December, the snowiest month.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
Heating a home in Electoral Area D, Cariboo
84% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to May.
Measured against 18°C: each day’s shortfall in mean temperature, added over twelve months. A house here needs more heating than 63% of Canadian towns.
Living with Electoral Area D, Cariboo’s climate
What the normals mean for a garden, a day outside and the depth of winter.
Frost usually lets go around 21 May and returns near 14 September, about 114 days apart.
The comfortable months for a day outside, highs of 17–27°C and nights of 8°C or more: Jul and Aug.
Parks & trails →About 23 days a year bring a wind chill under −20, when bare skin chills fast.
Muggy heat with a humidex over 30 arrives on about 4 days a year.
What averages leave out, the floods and ice storms, is on Electoral Area D, Cariboo’s hazards page.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Williams Lake
Behind the 1991–2020 normals for Williams Lake are 2 stations, which ECCC combines into one record.
| Distance from the town | 5.0 km east |
| Station altitude | 940 m |
| Completeness | at least 20 years |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −39.5°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 34.2°C |
| Average wind | 9.8 km/h on average, most often from the south-east |
| Next-nearest location | Quesnel, 97 km |
How Electoral Area D, Cariboo 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 D, Cariboo’s would only repeat its figures. Distances here run 73–86 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Electoral Area D, Cariboo.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area D, Cariboo Williams Lake | 22.7°C | −10.9°C | 463 mm |
| Mile 108 Recreational Ranch 73 km · Clinton | 23.9°C 1.2°C warmer | −9.8°C 1.1°C milder | 463 mm |
| Electoral Area I, Cariboo 83 km · Quesnel | 24.5°C 1.8°C warmer | −10.8°C about the same | 510 mm |
Electoral Area D, Cariboo weather by month
Month by month, 1991–2020: the usual high, low and mean, the rain and snow, and the snowfall.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain & snow | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −2.9°C | −10.9°C | −6.9°C | 37 mm | 41 cm |
| February | 0.5°C | −9.2°C | −4.4°C | 19 mm | 20 cm |
| March | 5.5°C | −5.4°C | 0.1°C | 20 mm | 21 cm |
| April | 11.0°C | −1.2°C | 4.9°C | 22 mm | 8 cm |
| May | 16.4°C | 3.3°C | 9.9°C | 42 mm | 3 cm |
| June | 19.5°C | 7.1°C | 13.4°C | 66 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 22.7°C | 9.5°C | 16.2°C | 57 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 22.5°C | 8.5°C | 15.5°C | 43 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 17.3°C | 4.2°C | 10.8°C | 37 mm | 1 cm |
| October | 9.5°C | −0.6°C | 4.5°C | 41 mm | 9 cm |
| November | 1.9°C | −5.3°C | −1.7°C | 42 mm | 31 cm |
| December | −3.0°C | −10.4°C | −6.7°C | 38 mm | 42 cm |
| Year | 10.1°C | −0.9°C | 4.6°C | 463 mm | 176 cm |
A February here can run warm or cold, its average moving by about 3.9°C; the steadiest month is June
The thirty-year records stretch furthest in January: a low of −39.3°C in 1996 and a high of 10.9°C in 1996.
Where Electoral Area D, Cariboo’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the Canadian Climate Normals, 1991–2020, at Williams Lake (the closest location with all twelve months of temperatures).
- Comparisons: all Canadian places of 2,500 or more except city totals and reserves, each read the same way.
- Not on this page: sunshine, which none of ECCC’s 450 locations publishes for 1991–2020, and the town’s own height above sea level, so no figure is adjusted for altitude.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Electoral Area D, Cariboo’s climate
How warm does Electoral Area D, Cariboo get in summer?
A normal July afternoon tops out at about 22.7°C, the year’s high point.
How cold does Electoral Area D, Cariboo get in winter?
Winter bottoms out in January, with lows near −10.9°C.
How much rain and snow does Electoral Area D, Cariboo get?
Count on roughly 463 mm a year, heaviest in June (66 mm) and lightest in February (19 mm).
How long does snow stay on the ground?
Count on about 129 days of snow cover a year, 1 cm or deeper.
Are these figures for Electoral Area D, Cariboo itself?
Not directly: Electoral Area D, Cariboo has no ECCC normals of its own, and Williams Lake stands in for it.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Electoral Area D, 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).