Few Canadian towns have cooler summers than Dawson Creek
Midwinter brings lows of about −19.4°C. Frost is common: about 204 nights a year drop below freezing, more than in 95% of Canadian towns. Temperatures cover 42°C across the year, low to high. Homes need heating from October to May, the months averaging under 10°C.
Figures: ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals at Dawson Creek (4.2 km south-east).
A year in Dawson Creek at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Dawson Creek’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in British Columbia beside it.
What a year in Dawson Creek feels like
Seasons and months as ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals give them: a typical day’s high and low.
About 204 frosts and 77 warm days a year
Frost comes from August to May; in January almost every night freezes. Deep cold, under −20°C, comes on about 45 nights a year.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
About 421 mm of rain and snow a year
July is the wettest month and April the driest. About 80 days a year bring 1 mm or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
177 cm of snow in a typical year
From September to May snow is likely; January is the peak, at about 34 cm.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Heating a home in Dawson Creek
86% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to May.
One degree below 18°C for one day makes one heating degree day; the year’s days are added together. In heating terms, homes need more heating than 97% of Canadian towns.
Living with Dawson Creek’s climate
Gardening, time outside, winter cold and summer heat, from the 1991–2020 normals.
Seedlings can go out once the average last frost, around 5 June, has passed; autumn’s first, near 29 August, ends a season of about 84 days.
Mild days and mild nights together (17–27°C by day, 8°C or more at night) belong to Jul.
Parks & trails →Thirty-year normals hide the storms and the extremes: the hazards page has Dawson Creek’s risks.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Dawson Creek
Dawson Creek is a composite: ECCC joins 2 stations’ readings to make its 1991–2020 normals.
| Distance from the town | 4.2 km south-east |
| Station altitude | 655 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −49.2°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 35.0°C |
| Next-nearest location | Fort St. John, 62 km |
How Dawson Creek 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
Nearby places read from a different ECCC location (places on Dawson Creek’s own would show the same figures). Distances here run 53–80 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Dawson Creek.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dawson Creek | 22.5°C | −19.4°C | 421 mm |
| Taylor 53 km · Fort St. John | 21.7°C 0.8°C cooler | −16.7°C 2.7°C milder | 464 mm |
| Beaverlodge 80 km · Grande Prairie | 22.7°C about the same | −19.4°C about the same | 435 mm |
Dawson Creek weather by month
Each month’s normals, 1991–2020: high, low, mean, precipitation and snowfall.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain & snow | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −7.6°C | −19.4°C | −13.5°C | 28 mm | 34 cm |
| February | −3.6°C | −15.8°C | −9.7°C | 19 mm | 23 cm |
| March | 0.3°C | −11.4°C | −5.6°C | 22 mm | 28 cm |
| April | 9.6°C | −3.2°C | 3.2°C | 19 mm | 13 cm |
| May | 16.6°C | 2.2°C | 9.4°C | 32 mm | 4 cm |
| June | 20.3°C | 7.2°C | 13.8°C | 57 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 22.5°C | 9.2°C | 15.9°C | 80 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 21.7°C | 7.3°C | 14.5°C | 49 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 16.7°C | 3.6°C | 10.1°C | 38 mm | 3 cm |
| October | 9.2°C | −2.2°C | 3.5°C | 27 mm | 15 cm |
| November | −0.4°C | −11.2°C | −5.8°C | 29 mm | 29 cm |
| December | −5.2°C | −16.3°C | −10.8°C | 22 mm | 27 cm |
| Year | 8.3°C | −4.2°C | 2.1°C | 421 mm | 177 cm |
In January, anything from −48.0°C to 16.6°C
January is the least predictable month: about two years in three its average lands within 5.1°C of the normal, −13.5°C. June is the steadiest, within 0.9°C.
Where Dawson Creek’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: 1991–2020 normals for Dawson Creek from ECCC’s climate data site, the nearest location with every month of temperature.
- Comparisons: every place of 2,500+ in Canada but the city hubs and the reserves, each on its nearest ECCC location.
- 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 Dawson Creek’s climate
How warm does Dawson Creek get in summer?
The warmest month is July, when afternoons average 22.5°C.
How cold does Dawson Creek get in winter?
In January, the coldest month, the typical low is −19.4°C.
How much rain and snow does Dawson Creek get?
Precipitation totals 421 mm a year, with July the wettest month (80 mm) and April the driest (19 mm).
Are these figures for Dawson Creek itself?
They are: the normals station that gives them stands in Dawson Creek.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Dawson Creek →
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).