Photo: jasonwoodhead23 · CC BY 2.0Hardly any Canadian towns see fresher July days than Fort St. John
On a normal January night the air cools to about −16.7°C. The seasons are far apart: from a winter night to a summer afternoon the average spans 38°C. In January, nights here are colder than in 80% of Canadian towns. An umbrella or a shovel earns its place on about 86 days a year with 1 mm or more.
Read at Fort St. John, 5.9 km east: ECCC’s normals for 1991–2020.
A year in Fort St. John at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Fort St. John’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in British Columbia beside it.
What a year in Fort St. John feels like
Seasons and months as ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals give them: a typical day’s high and low.
185 frost days and 65 days above 20°C a year
Frost comes from September to May; in January almost every night freezes. On about 37 nights a year the air falls below −20°C.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
About 464 mm of rain and snow a year
July is the wettest month and April the driest.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
206 cm of snow in a typical year
The snow season runs September to May; November brings the most, about 38 cm. 9th snowiest of 252 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 Fort St. John
86% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to April.
Heating degree days total each day’s gap between its mean temperature and 18°C. Over a year, a home here needs more heating than 93% of Canadian towns.
Living with Fort St. John’s climate
The averages read for the garden, the outdoors and the coldest and hottest days.
Gardens get from about 12 May to 16 September without frost, around 127 days in all.
Plan time outside for Jun, Jul and Aug: highs of 17–27°C and nights no colder than 8°C.
Parks & trails →Plan for about 70 days a year with a wind chill below −20.
Roughly 3 days a year feel hotter than 30 once humidity is counted.
Ice storms, floods and heat waves are risks, not averages: they are on Fort St. John’s hazards page.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Fort St. John
Fort St. John is a composite: ECCC joins 2 stations’ readings to make its 1991–2020 normals.
| Distance from the town | 5.9 km 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, 69 km |
How Fort St. John 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 Fort St. John’s would only repeat its figures. The one place listed is 60 km from Fort St. John, the nearest with figures.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fort St. John | 21.7°C | −16.7°C | 464 mm |
| Electoral Area D, Peace River 60 km · Dawson Creek | 22.5°C 0.8°C warmer | −19.4°C 2.7°C colder | 421 mm |
Fort St. John weather by month
Each month’s normals, 1991–2020: high, low, mean, precipitation and 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 |
December varies most from one year to the next (4.9°C), June least
Records from 1991 to 2020: no month spans more than January, between −43.6°C (1996) and 12.9°C (2003).
Where Fort St. John’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: 1991–2020 normals for Fort St. John from ECCC’s climate data site, the nearest location with every month of temperature.
- Comparisons: every Canadian town and neighbourhood of 2,500 or more, each read from its own nearest location; city totals and reserves are left out.
- Not on this page: hours of sunshine, missing from the 1991–2020 normals, and a height correction: the town has no elevation on file.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Fort St. John’s climate
How warm does Fort St. John get in summer?
The year’s warmest days come in July, with highs averaging 21.7°C.
How cold does Fort St. John get in winter?
Deep winter means January, when nights average −16.7°C.
How much rain and snow does Fort St. John get?
Over twelve months, rain and melted snow come to 464 mm; the range runs from 21 mm in April to 77 mm in July.
How long does snow stay on the ground?
Expect snow on the ground, at least 1 cm, for about 152 days a year.
Are these figures for Fort St. John itself?
They are the normals for Fort St. John, measured just outside Fort St. John itself.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Fort St. John →
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).