Photo: waferboard · CC BY 2.0Cranbrook is among the driest of Canadian towns: 386 mm of rain and snow a year
In July the day’s top temperature is typically 26.9°C. Expect the most rain and snow in June and the least in February. Summer afternoons here are warmer than in 83% of Canadian towns. About 80 days a year bring 1 mm of precipitation or more.
Figures: ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals at Cranbrook (11 km north).
A year in Cranbrook at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Cranbrook’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in British Columbia beside it.
What a year in Cranbrook feels like
Each season’s and each month’s usual high and low, 1991–2020.
About 174 frosts and 104 warm days a year
From September to May frost is routine, and in December it comes on almost every night. Some 10 nights a year drop under −20°C.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
About 386 mm of rain and snow a year
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
Snowfall: about 133 cm in a normal year
The snow season runs October to May; December brings the most, about 35 cm.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
Heating a home in Cranbrook
88% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to April.
A heating degree day is one degree of shortfall below 18°C for one day, summed over the year.
Living with Cranbrook’s climate
The averages read for the garden, the outdoors and the coldest and hottest days.
Plant out after about 18 May; the first frost of autumn usually arrives near 23 September, leaving roughly 127 days without frost.
Plan time outside for Jun, Jul and Aug: highs of 17–27°C and nights no colder than 8°C.
Parks & trails →Bitter wind chill, under −20, comes on about 15 days a year.
Muggy heat with a humidex over 30 arrives on about 20 days a year.
Averages smooth over blizzards, ice storms, floods and heat waves; Cranbrook’s hazards page covers the risks.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Cranbrook
ECCC builds the Cranbrook normals from 3 stations’ records over 1991–2020, joined where one replaced another.
| Distance from the town | 11 km north |
| Station altitude | 940 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −35.5°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 40.4°C |
| Average wind | 7.5 km/h on average, most often from the south |
| Next-nearest location | Sparwood, 69 km |
How Cranbrook 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
The nearest places on a normals location of their own: those that share Cranbrook’s would only repeat its figures. No closer places have figures: these lie 50–70 km from Cranbrook.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cranbrook | 26.9°C | −10.1°C | 386 mm |
| Fernie 50 km · Sparwood | 24.9°C 2.0°C cooler | −10.7°C 0.6°C colder | 614 mm |
| Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay 67 km · Creston | 28.6°C 1.7°C warmer | −4.0°C 6.1°C milder | 689 mm |
Cranbrook 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 | −1.9°C | −10.1°C | −6.1°C | 27 mm | 28 cm |
| February | 1.6°C | −8.6°C | −3.5°C | 20 mm | 17 cm |
| March | 7.3°C | −3.8°C | 1.8°C | 27 mm | 16 cm |
| April | 12.8°C | 0.0°C | 6.4°C | 23 mm | 6 cm |
| May | 18.3°C | 4.7°C | 11.5°C | 42 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 21.5°C | 8.2°C | 14.9°C | 62 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 26.9°C | 11.3°C | 19.2°C | 35 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 26.6°C | 10.4°C | 18.6°C | 24 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 20.4°C | 5.7°C | 13.1°C | 30 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 11.4°C | −0.3°C | 5.6°C | 26 mm | 6 cm |
| November | 2.7°C | −5.3°C | −1.3°C | 35 mm | 24 cm |
| December | −2.8°C | −10.1°C | −6.5°C | 35 mm | 35 cm |
| Year | 12.1°C | 0.2°C | 6.1°C | 386 mm | 133 cm |
A February here can run warm or cold, its average moving by about 3.2°C; the steadiest month is June
Each bar spans a month’s coldest and warmest readings over thirty years; March’s run from −27.6°C in 2019 to 22.4°C in 2004.
Where Cranbrook’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: ECCC’s 1991–2020 Canadian Climate Normals for Cranbrook, the nearest location with a full year 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: 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 Cranbrook’s climate
How warm does Cranbrook get in summer?
July is the warmest month, with average highs of 26.9°C.
How cold does Cranbrook get in winter?
On a normal January night the air drops to −10.1°C, the coldest of the year.
How much rain and snow does Cranbrook get?
Rain and snow, with snow counted as water, total 386 mm a year; June leads with 62 mm and February trails with 20 mm.
How long does snow stay on the ground?
About 99 days a year have 1 cm of snow or more on the ground.
Are these figures for Cranbrook itself?
Yes: ECCC’s normals station is inside Cranbrook itself.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Cranbrook →
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).