Photo: Kristina D.C. Hoeppner from Wellington, New Zealand · CC BY-SA 2.0Vancouver sits near the bottom of Canadian towns for frosts
On a normal July day the thermometer tops out near 23.0°C. Counting rain and snow together, it is wetter than 97% of Canadian towns. Expect the most rain and snow in November and the least in July. For walks and days out, the stretch from May to September brings highs of 18–23°C.
Read at Vancouver (Harbour), 5.2 km north: ECCC’s normals for 1991–2020.
A year in Vancouver at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Vancouver’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in British Columbia beside it.
What a year in Vancouver feels like
Seasons and months as ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals give them: a typical day’s high and low.
17 frost days and 87 days above 20°C a year
Frosts fall from November to March; January has the most, about 6.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
1,537 mm of precipitation in a typical year
About 142 days a year bring 1 mm or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Snowfall: about 37 cm in a normal year
Expect snow from November to March, with about 14 cm in December, the snowiest month.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snowfall: Vancouver International (Airport), 9.1 km away (Vancouver (Harbour) records no complete year of it).
Heating a home in Vancouver
89% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: November to March.
ECCC sums, over the year, how many degrees each day’s average falls short of 18°C. Over a year, a home here needs less heating than almost every Canadian town.
Living with Vancouver’s climate
The averages read for the garden, the outdoors and the coldest and hottest days.
Plan time outside for May, Jun, Jul, Aug and Sep: highs of 17–27°C and nights no colder than 8°C.
Parks & trails →A typical year is calm by definition; Vancouver’s hazards page covers the exceptions.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Vancouver (Harbour)
The page’s figures are ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals for Vancouver (Harbour), one of its 450 normals locations.
| Distance from the town | 5.2 km north |
| Station altitude | 3 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Snowfall from | Vancouver International (Airport), 9.1 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −9.0°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 34.9°C |
| Next-nearest location | Vancouver International (Airport), 9.1 km |
How Vancouver 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 Vancouver’s would only repeat its figures. Vancouver has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 8–18 km out.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vancouver Vancouver (Harbour) | 23.0°C | 3.3°C | 1,537 mm |
| Musqueam 2 7.9 km · Vancouver International (Airport) | 22.4°C 0.6°C cooler | 1.4°C 1.9°C colder | 1,160 mm |
| New Westminster 14 km · Pitt Meadows | 25.0°C 2.0°C warmer | 0.5°C 2.8°C colder | 1,649 mm |
Vancouver weather by month
Each month’s normals, 1991–2020: high, low, mean, precipitation and snowfall.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain & snow | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.4°C | 3.3°C | 5.3°C | 237 mm | 12 cm |
| February | 8.4°C | 3.3°C | 5.9°C | 117 mm | 5 cm |
| March | 10.5°C | 4.6°C | 7.6°C | 163 mm | 3 cm |
| April | 13.9°C | 6.9°C | 10.4°C | 118 mm | under 1 cm |
| May | 17.8°C | 10.2°C | 14.0°C | 73 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 20.2°C | 12.8°C | 16.5°C | 66 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 23.0°C | 14.9°C | 19.0°C | 44 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 23.0°C | 14.8°C | 18.9°C | 49 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 19.4°C | 12.1°C | 15.8°C | 71 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 13.9°C | 8.6°C | 11.2°C | 157 mm | under 1 cm |
| November | 9.7°C | 5.3°C | 7.5°C | 245 mm | 3 cm |
| December | 7.1°C | 3.2°C | 5.2°C | 200 mm | 14 cm |
| Year | 14.5°C | 8.3°C | 11.4°C | 1,537 mm | 37 cm |
Two years in three, January’s average lands within 1.5°C of normal, against the steadier July
June has the widest record range, −2.8°C in 2007 to 30.6°C in 2015; the tick on each bar is the month’s normal.
Where Vancouver’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: 1991–2020 normals for Vancouver (Harbour) from ECCC’s climate data site, the nearest location with every month of temperature.
- Other locations: precipitation and snowfall come from the nearest location that publishes all twelve months of them, as named above.
- Comparisons: all Canadian places of 2,500 or more except city totals and reserves, each read the same way.
- 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 Vancouver’s climate
How warm does Vancouver get in summer?
The warmest month is July, when afternoons average 23.0°C.
How cold does Vancouver get in winter?
Deep winter means December, when nights average 3.2°C.
How much rain and snow does Vancouver get?
The year adds up to 1,537 mm. November is the peak month (245 mm) and July the low one (44 mm).
Are these figures for Vancouver itself?
Nearly: Vancouver (Harbour), the location behind them, sits just beyond Vancouver’s boundary.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Vancouver →
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).