Photo: Sam Beebe · CC BY 2.0Electoral Area B, Kitimat-Stikine has some of the coolest summers among Canadian towns
Deep winter brings January lows near −10.9°C. Counting rain and snow together, it is drier than 75% of Canadian towns. Some 33°C separates winter nights from summer afternoons. The heating season runs October to April: each of those months averages under 10°C.
Every figure here comes from Smithers, 57 km south-east; ECCC has no normals closer to Electoral Area B, Kitimat-Stikine, so they describe the wider area.
A year in Electoral Area B, Kitimat-Stikine at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Electoral Area B, Kitimat-Stikine’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 B, Kitimat-Stikine feels like
Each season’s and each month’s usual high and low, 1991–2020.
Frost on 187 days, 20°C on 62
From September to May frost is routine, and in December it comes on almost every night. On about 12 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
506 mm of precipitation in a typical year
October is the wettest month and March the driest. On about 105 days a year, 1 mm or more falls.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
Snowfall: about 184 cm in a normal year
Expect snow from October to April, with about 48 cm in December, the snowiest month.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
Heating a home in Electoral Area B, Kitimat-Stikine
83% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to April.
Measured against 18°C: each day’s shortfall in mean temperature, added over twelve months. In heating terms, homes need more heating than 65% of Canadian towns.
Living with Electoral Area B, Kitimat-Stikine’s climate
Gardening, time outside, winter cold and summer heat, from the 1991–2020 normals.
Between the last frost, near 26 May, and the first, near 17 September, lie about 113 frost-free days.
The outdoor season by the averages is Jul and Aug, with highs of 17–27°C and lows of 8°C or more.
Parks & trails →About 18 days a year bring a wind chill under −20, when bare skin chills fast.
On some 5 days a year the humidex climbs past 30.
Thirty-year normals hide the storms and the extremes: the hazards page has Electoral Area B, Kitimat-Stikine’s risks.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Smithers
Behind the 1991–2020 normals for Smithers are 3 stations, which ECCC combines into one record.
| Distance from the town | 57 km south-east |
| Station altitude | 523 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | Yes |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −39.0°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 36.0°C |
| Average wind | 5.4 km/h on average, most often from the south-east |
| Next-nearest location | Terrace, 106 km |
How Electoral Area B, Kitimat-Stikine compares
Compared with 2,611 towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more across Canada; the dots mark the other normals locations in British Columbia.
Nearby towns’ climate
Nearby places read from a different ECCC location (places on Electoral Area B, Kitimat-Stikine’s own would show the same figures). No closer places have figures: these lie 99–116 km from Electoral Area B, Kitimat-Stikine.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area B, Kitimat-Stikine Smithers | 21.8°C | −10.9°C | 506 mm |
| Electoral Area C (Part 1), Kitimat-Stikine 99 km · Terrace | 21.5°C about the same | −5.3°C 5.6°C milder | 1,338 mm |
| Houston 116 km · Burns Lake Decker Lake | 22.1°C about the same | −14.8°C 3.9°C colder | 506 mm |
Electoral Area B, Kitimat-Stikine weather by month
Each month’s normals, 1991–2020: high, low, mean, precipitation and snowfall.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain & snow | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −3.4°C | −10.9°C | −7.2°C | 42 mm | 41 cm |
| February | 0.0°C | −9.2°C | −4.6°C | 24 mm | 25 cm |
| March | 4.9°C | −5.5°C | −0.3°C | 20 mm | 17 cm |
| April | 11.0°C | −1.2°C | 4.9°C | 27 mm | 5 cm |
| May | 16.6°C | 3.3°C | 10.0°C | 39 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 19.5°C | 6.9°C | 13.2°C | 51 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 21.8°C | 9.0°C | 15.4°C | 44 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 21.5°C | 8.1°C | 14.8°C | 45 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 16.2°C | 4.4°C | 10.4°C | 49 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 8.7°C | 0.1°C | 4.4°C | 66 mm | 9 cm |
| November | 1.2°C | −4.7°C | −1.8°C | 54 mm | 38 cm |
| December | −3.1°C | −9.9°C | −6.5°C | 44 mm | 48 cm |
| Year | 9.6°C | −0.8°C | 4.4°C | 506 mm | 184 cm |
February varies most from one year to the next (3.5°C), October least
Over 1991–2020, December saw both −39.0°C (1996) and 13.6°C (2005), the widest span of any month.
Where Electoral Area B, Kitimat-Stikine’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: ECCC’s 1991–2020 Canadian Climate Normals for Smithers, the nearest location with a full year of temperatures.
- 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: 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 Electoral Area B, Kitimat-Stikine’s climate
How warm does Electoral Area B, Kitimat-Stikine get in summer?
The year’s warmest days come in July, with highs averaging 21.8°C.
How cold does Electoral Area B, Kitimat-Stikine get in winter?
Deep winter means January, when nights average −10.9°C.
How much rain and snow does Electoral Area B, Kitimat-Stikine get?
Precipitation totals 506 mm a year, with October the wettest month (66 mm) and March the driest (20 mm).
How long does snow stay on the ground?
There is 1 cm of snow or more on the ground on roughly 127 days a year.
Are these figures for Electoral Area B, Kitimat-Stikine itself?
Not really: Smithers, the closest location with normals, lies well away from Electoral Area B, Kitimat-Stikine.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Electoral Area B, Kitimat-Stikine →
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).