Photo: The original uploader was RandyMac at English Wikipedia . · CC BY-SA 3.0Few Canadian towns have warmer summer afternoons than Trail
The depth of winter brings overnight lows near −4.0°C. Precipitation follows the seasons: December brings about 4.0 times as much as August. Winters are mild: January nights here are milder than in 93% of Canadian towns. About 122 days a year bring 1 mm of precipitation or more.
The nearest ECCC normals location to Trail is Warfield, 4.1 km west, and every figure on this page is its.
A year in Trail at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Trail’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in British Columbia beside it.
What a year in Trail feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals.
Frost on 120 days, 20°C on 125
The frost season runs October to April, peaking in December at about 27 nights. Heat of 30°C or more comes on about 38 days a year.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
759 mm of precipitation in a typical year
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Snowfall: about 151 cm in a normal year
The snow season runs October to April; December brings the most, about 47 cm.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snowfall: Creston, 86 km away (Warfield records no complete year of it).
Heating a home in Trail
91% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to April.
One degree below 18°C for one day makes one heating degree day; the year’s days are added together. In heating terms, homes need less heating than 88% of Canadian towns.
Living with Trail’s climate
Gardening, time outside, winter cold and summer heat, from the 1991–2020 normals.
The growing season between frosts lasts about 167 days, roughly 28 April to 13 October.
Afternoons of 17–27°C and nights of at least 8°C arrive in Jun and Sep.
Parks & trails →Wind chill falls below −20 on about 2 days a year: cover skin and dress in layers.
Plan shade and water for about 44 days a year above 30 on the humidex.
Thirty years of averages say little about one bad storm; Trail’s hazards page does.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Warfield
Warfield is a composite: ECCC joins 2 stations’ readings to make its 1991–2020 normals.
| Distance from the town | 4.1 km west |
| Station altitude | 606 m |
| Completeness | at least 20 years |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Snowfall from | Creston, 86 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −25.1°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 41.1°C |
| Average wind | 6.0 km/h on average, most often from the south |
| Next-nearest location | Nelson, 52 km |
How Trail 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
The nearest places on a normals location of their own: those that share Trail’s would only repeat its figures. No closer place has figures: this one lies 29 km from Trail.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trail Warfield | 29.3°C | −4.0°C | 759 mm |
| Electoral Area G, Central Kootenay 29 km · Nelson | 28.5°C 0.8°C cooler | −2.9°C 1.1°C milder | 759 mm |
Trail 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 | 0.4°C | −4.0°C | −1.7°C | 93 mm | 45 cm |
| February | 3.3°C | −3.1°C | 0.2°C | 62 mm | 21 cm |
| March | 9.1°C | −0.4°C | 4.4°C | 61 mm | 12 cm |
| April | 15.1°C | 2.8°C | 9.1°C | 54 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 20.8°C | 7.2°C | 14.0°C | 72 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 23.9°C | 10.3°C | 17.1°C | 68 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 29.3°C | 13.0°C | 21.2°C | 47 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 29.5°C | 12.5°C | 21.1°C | 25 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 23.1°C | 8.7°C | 16.0°C | 32 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 13.0°C | 3.5°C | 8.2°C | 62 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 4.6°C | −0.6°C | 2.0°C | 86 mm | 23 cm |
| December | 0.1°C | −3.9°C | −1.7°C | 98 mm | 47 cm |
| Year | 14.4°C | 3.8°C | 9.2°C | 759 mm | 151 cm |
From 1.3°C to 41.1°C: June’s coldest and warmest days since 1991
The month to count on least is February: one year in three its average strays more than 2.3°C from 0.2°C. August moves least, typically by 1.1°C.
Where Trail’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: 1991–2020 normals for Warfield from ECCC’s climate data site, the nearest location with every month of temperature.
- Other locations: where a location publishes no full year of precipitation or snowfall, the nearest one that does supplies it, named beside those figures.
- 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: sunshine (no 1991–2020 normals exist for it) and any altitude adjustment, since there is no elevation for the town itself.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Trail’s climate
How warm does Trail get in summer?
Summer peaks in August: a typical afternoon reaches 29.5°C.
How cold does Trail get in winter?
Midwinter means January, when a typical night reaches −4.0°C.
How much rain and snow does Trail get?
Measured as water, a year brings 759 mm: 98 mm in December, the wettest month, and 25 mm in August, the driest.
Are these figures for Trail itself?
They are the closest available: the normals for Warfield, since Trail has none.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Trail →
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).