Photo: Eric Friedebach · CC BY 3.0Few Canadian towns get less rain and snow than Merritt: 273 mm a year
Sunny July days climb to about 29.5°C. In July, afternoons here are warmer than in almost every Canadian town. Winter and summer sit 34°C apart. Warm coats and heating bills mark the months from November to March, when means dip under 10°C.
Every figure here comes from Lytton, 58 km west; ECCC has no normals closer to Merritt, so they describe the wider area.
A year in Merritt at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Merritt’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in British Columbia beside it.
What a year in Merritt feels like
Seasons and months as ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals give them: a typical day’s high and low.
97 frost days and 133 days above 20°C a year
Frost comes from October to April, most of all in December (about 24 nights). About 43 days a year top 30°C.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
About 273 mm of rain and snow a year
June brings the most rain and snow; February, the least. 252nd wettest of 255 towns of 2,500+ in British Columbia. About 62 days a year bring 1 mm or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
Lytton publishes no full year of precipitation or snowfall, so these figures, and the snow below, come from Kamloops, 70 km away.
About 63 cm of snow a year
Expect snow from November to March, with about 20 cm in December, the snowiest month.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Heating a home in Merritt
94% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: November to March.
Think of it as a year’s worth of daily shortfalls below 18°C, added up. Homes here need less heating than 93% of Canadian towns.
Living with Merritt’s climate
The averages read for the garden, the outdoors and the coldest and hottest days.
Afternoons of 17–27°C and nights of at least 8°C arrive in May, Jun and Sep.
Parks & trails →Winter brings about 6 days with a wind chill below −20.
A humidex above 30 marks about 45 days in a normal year.
Averages smooth over blizzards, ice storms, floods and heat waves; Merritt’s hazards page covers the risks.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Lytton
Lytton is a composite: ECCC joins 3 stations’ readings to make its 1991–2020 normals.
| Distance from the town | 58 km west |
| Station altitude | 225 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Precipitation from | Kamloops, 70 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −23.5°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 42.0°C |
| Average wind | 17.3 km/h on average, most often from the south |
| Next-nearest location | Kamloops, 70 km |
How Merritt 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
Places around Merritt whose figures come from another normals location. Merritt has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 43–74 km out.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Merritt Lytton | 29.5°C | −4.1°C | 273 mm |
| Logan Lake 43 km · Kamloops | 29.3°C about the same | −5.7°C 1.6°C colder | 273 mm |
| Electoral Area H, Okanagan-Similkameen 59 km · Princeton | 27.3°C 2.2°C cooler | −9.1°C 5.0°C colder | 355 mm |
Merritt 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 | −4.1°C | −1.1°C | 22 mm | 19 cm |
| February | 6.0°C | −2.1°C | 1.9°C | 12 mm | 8 cm |
| March | 10.8°C | 0.8°C | 5.8°C | 15 mm | 5 cm |
| April | 16.5°C | 4.3°C | 10.4°C | 13 mm | under 1 cm |
| May | 22.0°C | 8.9°C | 15.5°C | 28 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 24.8°C | 12.5°C | 18.7°C | 36 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 29.5°C | 15.6°C | 22.6°C | 30 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29.5°C | 15.2°C | 22.4°C | 19 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23.9°C | 10.8°C | 17.4°C | 24 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 14.7°C | 5.5°C | 10.1°C | 23 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 6.7°C | 0.6°C | 3.7°C | 26 mm | 10 cm |
| December | 1.8°C | −3.6°C | −0.9°C | 26 mm | 20 cm |
| Year | 15.7°C | 5.4°C | 10.5°C | 273 mm | 63 cm |
From year to year, February moves by 2.6°C, more than any month, and October least
Over 1991–2020, March saw both −15.1°C (2009) and 24.7°C (2013), the widest span of any month.
Where Merritt’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the 1991–2020 Canadian Climate Normals at Lytton, the closest ECCC location with twelve months of temperature normals.
- Other locations: a location missing months of precipitation or snow is filled from the nearest that has them all, never mixed month by month.
- 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: sunshine, not in ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals, and the effect of the town’s height, for which there is no figure.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Merritt’s climate
How warm does Merritt get in summer?
Peak warmth comes in July, at about 29.5°C by mid-afternoon.
How cold does Merritt get in winter?
Overnight lows average −4.1°C in January, the coldest month.
How much rain and snow does Merritt get?
The yearly total is about 273 mm. June gets 36 mm, the most of any month; February gets 12 mm, the least.
Are these figures for Merritt itself?
Not really: Lytton, the closest location with normals, lies well away from Merritt.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Merritt →
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).