Photo: Gerry Thomasen from Nanaimo, Canada · CC BY 2.0Nanaimo is among the least frosty of Canadian towns
Peak summer warmth arrives in July, with afternoons near 22.4°C. Of all months, November brings the most precipitation and July the least. Summers stay cool: July afternoons here are cooler than in 96% of Canadian towns. Warm coats and heating bills mark the months from November to April, when means dip under 10°C.
Every figure here comes from Vancouver International (Airport), 58 km east; ECCC has no normals closer to Nanaimo, so they describe the wider area.
A year in Nanaimo at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Nanaimo’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in British Columbia beside it.
What a year in Nanaimo feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals.
Frost on 40 days, 20°C on 79
The frost season runs November to March, peaking in January at about 10 nights.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
1,160 mm of precipitation in a typical year
About 137 days a year bring 1 mm or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
About 37 cm of snow a year
Snow falls from November to March, most of all in December (about 14 cm).
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
Heating a home in Nanaimo
87% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: November to April.
ECCC sums, over the year, how many degrees each day’s average falls short of 18°C. In heating terms, homes need less heating than 97% of Canadian towns.
Living with Nanaimo’s climate
Gardening, time outside, winter cold and summer heat, from the 1991–2020 normals.
Gardens get from about 19 March to 10 November without frost, around 235 days in all.
Afternoons of 17–27°C and nights of at least 8°C arrive in Jun, Jul, Aug and Sep.
Parks & trails →Count on some 6 humid days a year with the humidex past 30.
A normal year has no blizzard, flood or heat wave in it; Nanaimo’s hazards page looks at those.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Vancouver International (Airport)
Behind the 1991–2020 normals for Vancouver International (Airport) are 2 stations, which ECCC combines into one record.
| Distance from the town | 58 km east |
| Station altitude | 4 m |
| Completeness | at least 25 years |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −15.2°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 34.4°C |
| Average wind | 13.0 km/h on average, most often from the east |
| Next-nearest location | Vancouver (Harbour), 64 km |
How Nanaimo 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 Nanaimo’s would only repeat its figures. Distances here run 17–29 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Nanaimo.
Nanaimo 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 | 6.8°C | 1.4°C | 4.1°C | 174 mm | 12 cm |
| February | 7.9°C | 1.5°C | 4.7°C | 91 mm | 5 cm |
| March | 10.1°C | 3.3°C | 6.7°C | 106 mm | 3 cm |
| April | 13.1°C | 5.7°C | 9.4°C | 86 mm | under 1 cm |
| May | 16.9°C | 9.0°C | 13.0°C | 59 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 19.6°C | 11.9°C | 15.8°C | 51 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 22.4°C | 13.9°C | 18.2°C | 34 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 22.4°C | 14.0°C | 18.2°C | 36 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 19.1°C | 11.2°C | 15.2°C | 52 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 13.5°C | 7.0°C | 10.3°C | 124 mm | under 1 cm |
| November | 9.3°C | 3.6°C | 6.4°C | 175 mm | 3 cm |
| December | 6.6°C | 1.2°C | 3.9°C | 172 mm | 14 cm |
| Year | 14.0°C | 7.0°C | 10.5°C | 1,160 mm | 37 cm |
From −15.2°C to 14.3°C: December’s coldest and warmest days since 1991
From one year to the next, January’s average typically shifts by 1.7°C around its normal of 4.1°C, the widest of any month, while August’s shifts by 0.7°C.
Where Nanaimo’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the Canadian Climate Normals, 1991–2020, at Vancouver International (Airport) (the closest location with all twelve months 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: sunshine, which none of ECCC’s 450 locations publishes for 1991–2020, and the town’s own height above sea level, so no figure is adjusted for altitude.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Nanaimo’s climate
How warm does Nanaimo get in summer?
Peak warmth comes in July, at about 22.4°C by mid-afternoon.
How cold does Nanaimo get in winter?
Overnight lows average 1.2°C in December, the coldest month.
How much rain and snow does Nanaimo get?
Some 1,160 mm falls in a year. Most of it comes in November (175 mm), the least in July (34 mm).
How long does snow stay on the ground?
Around 8 days a year see 1 cm of snow or more lying.
Are these figures for Nanaimo itself?
No. The nearest normals are those of Vancouver International (Airport), a long way from Nanaimo.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Nanaimo →
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).