Electoral Area I, Cariboo is drier than 75% of Canadian towns: 510 mm of rain and snow a year
January mornings start at about −10.8°C. In July, afternoons here are cooler than in 67% of Canadian towns. The seasons are far apart: from a winter night to a summer afternoon the average spans 35°C. The heating season runs October to April: each of those months averages under 10°C.
These are not Electoral Area I, Cariboo’s own readings: ECCC keeps no normals there, so the page uses Quesnel, 16 km north.
A year in Electoral Area I, Cariboo at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Electoral Area I, 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 I, Cariboo feels like
Each season’s and each month’s usual high and low, 1991–2020.
About 177 frosts and 96 warm days a year
From September to May frost is routine, and in December it comes on almost every night. On about 13 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
510 mm of precipitation in a typical year
July brings the most rain and snow; February, the least. About 103 days a year bring 1 mm or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Snowfall: about 176 cm in a normal 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
ECCC’s Quesnel normals leave snowfall out; the figures here come from Williams Lake, 86 km away.
Heating a home in Electoral Area I, Cariboo
86% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to April.
Every day colder than 18°C on average adds its gap in degrees to the year’s heating total.
Living with Electoral Area I, Cariboo’s climate
The averages read for the garden, the outdoors and the coldest and hottest days.
From about 22 May to 19 September the garden is usually clear of frost, some 119 days.
The comfortable months for a day outside, highs of 17–27°C and nights of 8°C or more: Jul and Aug.
Parks & trails →Wind chill falls below −20 on about 17 days a year: cover skin and dress in layers.
Expect around 12 sticky days a year with the humidex above 30.
A normal year has no blizzard, flood or heat wave in it; Electoral Area I, Cariboo’s hazards page looks at those.
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 | 16 km north |
| Station altitude | 545 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Snowfall from | Williams Lake, 86 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 | Williams Lake, 86 km |
How Electoral Area I, Cariboo compares
Compared with 2,611 towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more across Canada; the dots mark the other normals locations in British Columbia.
Nearby towns’ climate
The nearest places on a normals location of their own: those that share Electoral Area I, Cariboo’s would only repeat its figures. Electoral Area I, Cariboo has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 83–104 km out.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area I, Cariboo Quesnel | 24.5°C | −10.8°C | 510 mm |
| Electoral Area D, Cariboo 83 km · Williams Lake | 22.7°C 1.8°C cooler | −10.9°C about the same | 463 mm |
| Electoral Area C, Fraser-Fort George 104 km · Prince George | 22.6°C 1.9°C cooler | −11.7°C 0.9°C colder | 590 mm |
Electoral Area I, 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 | −2.7°C | −10.8°C | −6.8°C | 42 mm | 41 cm |
| February | 0.9°C | −9.0°C | −4.1°C | 22 mm | 20 cm |
| March | 6.9°C | −5.2°C | 0.8°C | 27 mm | 21 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 | 3 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 | 9 cm |
| November | 2.8°C | −4.5°C | −0.8°C | 45 mm | 31 cm |
| December | −2.1°C | −9.6°C | −5.8°C | 43 mm | 42 cm |
| Year | 11.5°C | −0.5°C | 5.5°C | 510 mm | 176 cm |
January has run from −41.9°C to 11.8°C in thirty years
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 I, Cariboo’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: Environment and Climate Change Canada’s 1991–2020 normals, Quesnel: the nearest of its locations with every month’s temperatures.
- Other locations: precipitation and snowfall come from the nearest location that publishes all twelve months of them, as named above.
- Comparisons: the 2,500-plus towns and neighbourhoods of Canada, each read from its closest normals location; whole cities and reserves aren’t counted.
- 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 I, Cariboo’s climate
How warm does Electoral Area I, Cariboo get in summer?
At its warmest, in July, the normal high is 24.5°C.
How cold does Electoral Area I, Cariboo get in winter?
Lows sink to −10.8°C on an average January night.
How much rain and snow does Electoral Area I, Cariboo get?
July is the wettest month at 68 mm and February the driest at 22 mm, for 510 mm over the year.
Are these figures for Electoral Area I, Cariboo itself?
Not as such: Quesnel is the nearest normals location, and Electoral Area I, Cariboo has none.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Electoral Area I, 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).