Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0Few Canadian towns get less rain and snow than Kimberley: 386 mm a year
The warmest part of a July day comes in at 26.9°C on average. Winter and summer sit 37°C apart. By July afternoons alone, it runs hotter than 83% of Canadian towns. Windshields need scraping on about 174 mornings a year, the days the air reaches 0°C or below.
Borrowed figures: Kimberley has no normals station, so these come from Cranbrook, 16 km south-east.
A year in Kimberley at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Kimberley’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in British Columbia beside it.
What a year in Kimberley feels like
Each season’s and each month’s usual high and low, 1991–2020.
174 frost days and 104 days above 20°C a year
The frost season runs September to May, and December freezes nearly 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
386 mm of precipitation in a typical year
June brings the most rain and snow; February, the least. About 80 days a year bring 1 mm or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
133 cm of snow in a typical year
Snow falls from October to May, most of all in December (about 35 cm).
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
Heating a home in Kimberley
88% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to April.
Degree days add up how far each day’s mean temperature falls below 18°C over a year.
Living with Kimberley’s climate
The averages read for the garden, the outdoors and the coldest and hottest days.
The growing season between frosts lasts about 127 days, roughly 18 May to 23 September.
Afternoons of 17–27°C and nights of at least 8°C arrive in Jun, Jul and Aug.
Parks & trails →Winter brings about 15 days with a wind chill below −20.
Humid heat, a humidex over 30, comes on about 20 days a year.
The normals describe a typical year, not its worst days; the hazards page covers Kimberley’s.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Cranbrook
Behind the 1991–2020 normals for Cranbrook are 3 stations, which ECCC combines into one record.
| Distance from the town | 16 km south-east |
| 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, 75 km |
How Kimberley 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 Kimberley’s own would show the same figures). The nearest places to Kimberley with figures are 60–74 km away.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kimberley Cranbrook | 26.9°C | −10.1°C | 386 mm |
| Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay 60 km · Creston | 28.6°C 1.7°C warmer | −4.0°C 6.1°C milder | 689 mm |
| Fernie 68 km · Sparwood | 24.9°C 2.0°C cooler | −10.7°C 0.6°C colder | 614 mm |
| Kaslo 72 km · Nelson | 28.5°C 1.6°C warmer | −2.9°C 7.2°C milder | 386 mm |
Kimberley 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 | −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 |
Two years in three, February’s average lands within 3.2°C of normal, against the steadier June
The thirty-year records stretch furthest in March: a low of −27.6°C in 2019 and a high of 22.4°C in 2004.
Where Kimberley’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the 1991–2020 normals from ECCC for Cranbrook, its nearest location with complete temperatures.
- Comparisons: Canada’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ (no city totals, no reserves), each through its own nearest location.
- 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 Kimberley’s climate
How warm does Kimberley get in summer?
Expect highs near 26.9°C in July, the hottest month on average.
How cold does Kimberley get in winter?
The year’s coldest nights belong to January, at about −10.1°C.
How much rain and snow does Kimberley get?
A normal year brings 386 mm, snow included as water: June is wettest at 62 mm, February driest at 20 mm.
How long does snow stay on the ground?
In a normal winter there are about 99 days with at least 1 cm of snow lying.
Are these figures for Kimberley itself?
Not quite: they come from Cranbrook, the closest ECCC normals location to Kimberley.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Kimberley →
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).