Photo: Dennis Sylvester Hurd · CC0New Westminster is among the wettest of Canadian towns: 1,649 mm of rain and snow a year
On a normal January night the air cools to about 0.5°C. Its January nights stay gentler than in 95% of Canadian towns. The wettest month is January; the driest is August. Homes need heating from November to April, the months averaging under 10°C.
No ECCC station in New Westminster has 1991–2020 normals; the page reads Pitt Meadows, 17 km east, instead.
A year in New Westminster at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about New Westminster’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in British Columbia beside it.
What a year in New Westminster feels like
Each season’s and each month’s usual high and low, 1991–2020.
Frost on 60 days, 20°C on 107
Frosts fall from October to April; December has the most, about 15. Some 11 days a year climb past 30°C.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
About 1,649 mm of rain and snow a year
10th wettest of 255 towns of 2,500+ in British Columbia. On about 148 days a year, 1 mm or more falls.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
37 cm of snow in a typical year
The snow season runs November to March; December brings the most, about 14 cm.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Pitt Meadows publishes no full year of snowfall, so these figures come from Vancouver International (Airport), 19 km away.
Heating a home in New Westminster
88% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: November to April.
Each day the mean sits under 18°C adds its shortfall; a year’s total is its heating degree days. Over a year, a home here needs less heating than 96% of Canadian towns.
Living with New Westminster’s climate
The averages read for the garden, the outdoors and the coldest and hottest days.
About 201 days a year pass without frost, from an average last frost of 11 April to a first of 30 October.
The comfortable months for a day outside, highs of 17–27°C and nights of 8°C or more: Jun, Jul, Aug and Sep.
Parks & trails →Count on some 26 humid days a year with the humidex past 30.
Averages smooth over blizzards, ice storms, floods and heat waves; New Westminster’s hazards page covers the risks.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Pitt Meadows
Every temperature, frost, snow and degree-day figure on this page is the 1991–2020 normal ECCC publishes for Pitt Meadows.
| Distance from the town | 17 km east |
| Station altitude | 5 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Snowfall from | Vancouver International (Airport), 19 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −16.3°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 37.6°C |
| Average wind | 4.8 km/h on average, most often from the east |
| Next-nearest location | Vancouver (Harbour), 18 km |
How New Westminster 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 New Westminster’s would only repeat its figures.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Westminster Pitt Meadows | 25.0°C | 0.5°C | 1,649 mm |
| East Burnaby 2.3 km · Vancouver (Harbour) | 23.0°C 2.0°C cooler | 3.3°C 2.8°C milder | 1,537 mm |
| Bridgeview 3.7 km · Pitt Meadows | 25.0°C about the same | 0.5°C about the same | 1,649 mm |
New Westminster 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 | 6.8°C | 0.5°C | 3.6°C | 252 mm | 12 cm |
| February | 8.8°C | 0.4°C | 4.6°C | 134 mm | 5 cm |
| March | 11.3°C | 2.3°C | 6.8°C | 173 mm | 3 cm |
| April | 14.9°C | 4.5°C | 9.7°C | 105 mm | under 1 cm |
| May | 19.0°C | 7.9°C | 13.5°C | 95 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 21.3°C | 10.8°C | 16.1°C | 69 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 25.0°C | 12.6°C | 18.8°C | 48 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 25.1°C | 12.4°C | 18.8°C | 36 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 21.5°C | 9.8°C | 15.7°C | 94 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 15.0°C | 5.9°C | 10.5°C | 180 mm | under 1 cm |
| November | 9.6°C | 2.4°C | 6.0°C | 249 mm | 3 cm |
| December | 6.1°C | 0.1°C | 3.1°C | 214 mm | 14 cm |
| Year | 15.4°C | 5.8°C | 10.6°C | 1,649 mm | 37 cm |
The most changeable month: February, give or take 1.7°C; the steadiest, October
The thirty-year records stretch furthest in September: a low of 0.9°C in 2000 and a high of 34.4°C in 2017.
Where New Westminster’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the 1991–2020 Canadian Climate Normals at Pitt Meadows, the closest ECCC location with twelve months of temperature normals.
- Other locations: precipitation and snowfall come from the nearest location that publishes all twelve months of them, as named above.
- Comparisons: a pool of Canadian towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, read alike; whole cities and reserves stay out of it.
- Not on this page: a sunshine figure (ECCC published none for 1991–2020) and any lapse-rate correction for height, as the town has no elevation here.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about New Westminster’s climate
How warm does New Westminster get in summer?
At its warmest, in August, the normal high is 25.1°C.
How cold does New Westminster get in winter?
The year’s coldest nights belong to December, at about 0.1°C.
How much rain and snow does New Westminster get?
Around 1,649 mm a year in all, from 252 mm in January down to 36 mm in August.
Are these figures for New Westminster itself?
No, the station behind them is Pitt Meadows, beyond New Westminster’s boundary.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for New Westminster →
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).