Photo: Ken Eckert · CC BY-SA 4.0Castlegar sits near the top of Canadian towns for July heat
January nights here settle around −4.0°C. The year swings widely: the coldest month’s nights and the warmest month’s afternoons are 34°C apart. Winters are mild: January nights here are milder than in 93% of Canadian towns. Expect about 120 frosty starts a year, days when the air falls to freezing.
ECCC publishes no normals for Castlegar itself; the figures are those of Warfield, 22 km south.
A year in Castlegar at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Castlegar’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in British Columbia beside it.
What a year in Castlegar feels like
Seasons and months as ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals give them: a typical day’s high and low.
About 120 frosts and 125 warm days a year
Frost comes from October to April, most of all in December (about 27 nights). About 38 days a year top 30°C.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
759 mm of precipitation in a typical year
December is the wettest month and August the driest. On about 122 days a year, 1 mm or more falls.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
151 cm of snow in a typical year
From October to April snow is likely; December is the peak, at about 47 cm.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
ECCC’s Warfield normals leave snowfall out; the figures here come from Creston, 85 km away.
Heating a home in Castlegar
91% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to April.
ECCC sums, over the year, how many degrees each day’s average falls short of 18°C. By this count, homes here need less heating than 88% of Canadian towns.
Living with Castlegar’s climate
The averages read for the garden, the outdoors and the coldest and hottest days.
Between the last frost, near 28 April, and the first, near 13 October, lie about 167 frost-free days.
The outdoor season by the averages is Jun and Sep, with highs of 17–27°C and lows of 8°C or more.
Parks & trails →Bitter wind chill, under −20, comes on about 2 days a year.
The humidex tops 30 on about 44 days a year: muggy days to plan around.
Extremes don’t show in averages: floods, wildfire smoke and ice storms are on Castlegar’s hazards page.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Warfield
Warfield is a composite: ECCC joins 2 stations’ readings to make its 1991–2020 normals.
| Distance from the town | 22 km south |
| Station altitude | 606 m |
| Completeness | at least 20 years |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Snowfall from | Creston, 85 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −25.1°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 41.1°C |
| Average wind | 6.0 km/h on average, most often from the south |
| Next-nearest location | Nelson, 33 km |
How Castlegar 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
Places around Castlegar whose figures come from another normals location. The nearest place to Castlegar with figures is 13 km away.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Castlegar Warfield | 29.3°C | −4.0°C | 759 mm |
| Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay 13 km · Nelson | 28.5°C 0.8°C cooler | −2.9°C 1.1°C milder | 759 mm |
Castlegar weather by month
Each month’s normals, 1991–2020: high, low, mean, precipitation and snowfall.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain & snow | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0.4°C | −4.0°C | −1.7°C | 93 mm | 45 cm |
| February | 3.3°C | −3.1°C | 0.2°C | 62 mm | 21 cm |
| March | 9.1°C | −0.4°C | 4.4°C | 61 mm | 12 cm |
| April | 15.1°C | 2.8°C | 9.1°C | 54 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 20.8°C | 7.2°C | 14.0°C | 72 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 23.9°C | 10.3°C | 17.1°C | 68 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 29.3°C | 13.0°C | 21.2°C | 47 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29.5°C | 12.5°C | 21.1°C | 25 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23.1°C | 8.7°C | 16.0°C | 32 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 13.0°C | 3.5°C | 8.2°C | 62 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 4.6°C | −0.6°C | 2.0°C | 86 mm | 23 cm |
| December | 0.1°C | −3.9°C | −1.7°C | 98 mm | 47 cm |
| Year | 14.4°C | 3.8°C | 9.2°C | 759 mm | 151 cm |
February varies most from one year to the next (2.3°C), August least
Each bar spans a month’s coldest and warmest readings over thirty years; June’s run from 1.3°C in 2012 to 41.1°C in 2015.
Where Castlegar’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: ECCC’s 1991–2020 Canadian Climate Normals for Warfield, the nearest location with a full year of temperatures.
- Other locations: precipitation and snowfall come from the nearest location that publishes all twelve months of them, as named above.
- 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: sunshine, absent from every 1991–2020 location, and an altitude correction, for want of the town’s own elevation.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Castlegar’s climate
How warm does Castlegar get in summer?
Midsummer means August, with afternoons near 29.5°C on a typical day.
How cold does Castlegar get in winter?
The year’s coldest nights belong to January, at about −4.0°C.
How much rain and snow does Castlegar get?
Precipitation totals 759 mm a year, with December the wettest month (98 mm) and August the driest (25 mm).
Are these figures for Castlegar itself?
Not directly: Castlegar has no ECCC normals of its own, and Warfield stands in for it.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Castlegar →
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).