Photo: Maclean25 at English Wikipedia · Public domainFew Canadian towns have cooler summers than Chetwynd
January nights here settle around −16.7°C. Winter nights are cold: in January they are colder than in 80% of Canadian towns. Precipitation follows the seasons: July brings about 3.7 times as much as April. The furnace earns its keep from October to April, the months that average under 10°C.
Chetwynd has no ECCC normals station nearby: the figures come from Fort St. John, 81 km north-east, so read them as the wider area’s climate.
A year in Chetwynd at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Chetwynd’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in British Columbia beside it.
What a year in Chetwynd feels like
Seasons and months as ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals give them: a typical day’s high and low.
Frost on 185 days, 20°C on 65
Frost comes from September to May; in January almost every night freezes. Deep cold, under −20°C, comes on about 37 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 464 mm a year
Some 86 days a year see 1 mm of rain or snow or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
Snowfall: about 206 cm in a normal year
The snow season runs September to May; November brings the most, about 38 cm. 9th snowiest of 253 towns of 2,500+ in British Columbia.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
Heating a home in Chetwynd
86% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to April.
Warm days count for nothing; each colder day adds how far its mean sits below 18°C. In heating terms, homes need more heating than 93% of Canadian towns.
Living with Chetwynd’s climate
Gardening, time outside, winter cold and summer heat, from the 1991–2020 normals.
Tender plants are usually safe from around 12 May until frost returns near 16 September: about 127 days.
The comfortable months for a day outside, highs of 17–27°C and nights of 8°C or more: Jun, Jul and Aug.
Parks & trails →Wind chill falls below −20 on about 70 days a year: cover skin and dress in layers.
Expect around 3 sticky days a year with the humidex above 30.
Thirty years of averages say little about one bad storm; Chetwynd’s hazards page does.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Fort St. John
Behind the 1991–2020 normals for Fort St. John are 2 stations, which ECCC combines into one record.
| Distance from the town | 81 km north-east |
| Station altitude | 695 m |
| Completeness | at least 25 years |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −44.6°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 33.5°C |
| Average wind | 14.0 km/h on average, most often from the south-west |
| Next-nearest location | Dawson Creek, 90 km |
How Chetwynd 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
Nearby places read from a different ECCC location (places on Chetwynd’s own would show the same figures). The nearest places to Chetwynd with figures are 74–102 km away.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chetwynd Fort St. John | 21.7°C | −16.7°C | 464 mm |
| Tumbler Ridge 74 km · Dawson Creek | 22.5°C 0.8°C warmer | −19.4°C 2.7°C colder | 421 mm |
| Mackenzie 102 km · Mackenzie | 22.4°C 0.7°C warmer | −13.5°C 3.2°C milder | 609 mm |
Chetwynd 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 | −8.6°C | −16.7°C | −12.7°C | 28 mm | 34 cm |
| February | −5.4°C | −14.0°C | −9.7°C | 21 mm | 26 cm |
| March | −0.5°C | −9.8°C | −5.2°C | 27 mm | 30 cm |
| April | 9.1°C | −1.5°C | 3.8°C | 21 mm | 15 cm |
| May | 16.0°C | 4.2°C | 10.1°C | 34 mm | 7 cm |
| June | 19.7°C | 8.7°C | 14.2°C | 75 mm | under 1 cm |
| July | 21.7°C | 10.7°C | 16.3°C | 77 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 20.8°C | 9.3°C | 15.0°C | 48 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 15.7°C | 5.1°C | 10.4°C | 42 mm | 5 cm |
| October | 7.7°C | −0.7°C | 3.5°C | 33 mm | 22 cm |
| November | −2.4°C | −9.7°C | −6.1°C | 35 mm | 38 cm |
| December | −6.9°C | −14.6°C | −10.8°C | 24 mm | 29 cm |
| Year | 7.2°C | −2.4°C | 2.4°C | 464 mm | 206 cm |
A December here can run warm or cold, its average moving by about 4.9°C; the steadiest month is June
Records from 1991 to 2020: no month spans more than January, between −43.6°C (1996) and 12.9°C (2003).
Where Chetwynd’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the 1991–2020 normals from ECCC for Fort St. John, its nearest location with complete 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, 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 Chetwynd’s climate
How warm does Chetwynd get in summer?
Summer peaks in July: a typical afternoon reaches 21.7°C.
How cold does Chetwynd get in winter?
Overnight lows average −16.7°C in January, the coldest month.
How much rain and snow does Chetwynd get?
Around 464 mm a year in all, from 77 mm in July down to 21 mm in April.
How long does snow stay on the ground?
Roughly 152 days a year start with snow cover of 1 cm or more.
Are these figures for Chetwynd itself?
They are the figures for Fort St. John, which read better as the region’s climate than Chetwynd’s own.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Chetwynd →
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).