Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainHardly any Canadian towns collect less precipitation than Electoral Area C, East Kootenay: 386 mm a year
Deep winter brings January lows near −10.1°C. June is the wettest month here, with about 3.1 times the rain and snow of February. By July afternoons alone, it runs hotter than 83% of Canadian towns. Ice scrapers and block heaters earn their keep on roughly 174 days a year at 0°C or below.
These are not Electoral Area C, East Kootenay’s own readings: ECCC keeps no normals there, so the page uses Cranbrook, 16 km north.
A year in Electoral Area C, East Kootenay at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Electoral Area C, East Kootenay’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 C, East Kootenay feels like
Seasons and months as ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals give them: a typical day’s high and low.
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. Deep cold, under −20°C, comes on about 10 nights a year.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
386 mm of precipitation in a typical year
On about 80 days a year, 1 mm or more falls.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
About 133 cm of snow a year
From October to May snow is likely; December is the peak, at about 35 cm.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
Heating a home in Electoral Area C, East Kootenay
88% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to April.
Each day the mean sits under 18°C adds its shortfall; a year’s total is its heating degree days.
Living with Electoral Area C, East Kootenay’s climate
The averages read for the garden, the outdoors and the coldest and hottest days.
The frost-free stretch runs from about 18 May to about 23 September, some 127 days in a normal year.
Mild days and mild nights together (17–27°C by day, 8°C or more at night) belong to Jun, Jul and Aug.
Parks & trails →Plan for about 15 days a year with a wind chill below −20.
Summer brings about 20 days when the humidex passes 30.
What averages leave out, the floods and ice storms, is on Electoral Area C, East Kootenay’s hazards page.
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 | 16 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 | Creston, 69 km |
How Electoral Area C, East Kootenay 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
The nearest places on a normals location of their own: those that share Electoral Area C, East Kootenay’s would only repeat its figures. Distances here run 50–69 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Electoral Area C, East Kootenay.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area C, East Kootenay 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 |
Electoral Area C, East Kootenay 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 |
February strays furthest from its normal year to year, by 3.2°C; June the least
Records from 1991 to 2020: no month spans more than March, between −27.6°C (2019) and 22.4°C (2004).
Where Electoral Area C, East Kootenay’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the closest ECCC location with twelve months of temperature normals, Cranbrook, 1991–2020.
- Comparisons: Canada’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ (no city totals, no reserves), each through its own nearest 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 Electoral Area C, East Kootenay’s climate
How warm does Electoral Area C, East Kootenay get in summer?
Afternoons average 26.9°C in July, the warmest time of year.
How cold does Electoral Area C, East Kootenay get in winter?
In January, the coldest month, the typical low is −10.1°C.
How much rain and snow does Electoral Area C, East Kootenay get?
The yearly total is about 386 mm. June gets 62 mm, the most of any month; February gets 20 mm, the least.
How long does snow stay on the ground?
Snow lies on the ground for about 99 days in a normal year.
Are these figures for Electoral Area C, East Kootenay itself?
Not exactly. Electoral Area C, East Kootenay lacks a normals station, so Cranbrook supplies the figures.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Electoral Area C, East Kootenay →
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).