Photo: 36reasons · Public domainWest Kelowna sits near the bottom of Canadian towns for rain and snow, with 344 mm a year
In July the day’s top temperature is typically 28.5°C. A year here swings 34°C from midwinter lows to midsummer highs. Summer afternoons here are warmer than in almost every Canadian town. Ice scrapers and block heaters earn their keep on roughly 151 days a year at 0°C or below.
These are not West Kelowna’s own readings: ECCC keeps no normals there, so the page uses Kelowna, 20 km north-east.
A year in West Kelowna at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about West Kelowna’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in British Columbia beside it.
What a year in West Kelowna feels like
Seasons and months as ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals give them: a typical day’s high and low.
151 frost days and 126 days above 20°C a year
The frost season runs September to May, and January freezes nearly every night. About 28 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
Rain and melted snow: about 344 mm a year
June brings the most rain and snow; February, the least. About 75 days a year bring 1 mm or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
Kelowna publishes no full year of precipitation or snowfall, so these figures, and the snow below, come from Penticton, 44 km away.
62 cm of snow in a typical year
Expect snow from November to March, with about 20 cm in December, the snowiest month.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Heating a home in West Kelowna
90% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to April.
A heating degree day is one degree of shortfall below 18°C for one day, summed over the year. By this count, homes here need less heating than 86% of Canadian towns.
Living with West Kelowna’s climate
What the normals mean for a garden, a day outside and the depth of winter.
The comfortable months for a day outside, highs of 17–27°C and nights of 8°C or more: Jun.
Parks & trails →Frostbite weather, a wind chill under −20, turns up on about 7 days a year.
About 35 days a year feel above 30 on the humidex.
Severe weather is a separate story from the averages: see West Kelowna’s hazards page.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Kelowna
Kelowna is a composite: ECCC joins 3 stations’ readings to make its 1991–2020 normals.
| Distance from the town | 20 km north-east |
| Station altitude | 433 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Precipitation from | Penticton, 44 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −30.6°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 39.5°C |
| Average wind | 6.4 km/h on average, most often from the north |
| Next-nearest location | Penticton, 44 km |
How West Kelowna 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
The nearest places on a normals location of their own: those that share West Kelowna’s would only repeat its figures. No closer places have figures: these lie 28–41 km from West Kelowna.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Kelowna Kelowna | 28.5°C | −5.9°C | 344 mm |
| Summerland 28 km · Penticton | 29.2°C 0.7°C warmer | −3.2°C 2.7°C milder | 344 mm |
| Central Okanagan West 32 km · Vernon | 28.4°C about the same | −6.4°C 0.5°C colder | 447 mm |
West Kelowna weather by month
Each month’s normals, 1991–2020: high, low, mean, precipitation and snowfall.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain & snow | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0.7°C | −5.9°C | −2.6°C | 28 mm | 19 cm |
| February | 3.5°C | −5.4°C | −1.0°C | 19 mm | 9 cm |
| March | 9.8°C | −2.2°C | 3.8°C | 23 mm | 5 cm |
| April | 15.4°C | 0.9°C | 8.2°C | 26 mm | 1 cm |
| May | 20.6°C | 5.3°C | 13.0°C | 38 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 24.0°C | 9.1°C | 16.6°C | 44 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 28.5°C | 11.4°C | 20.0°C | 28 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 28.2°C | 10.5°C | 19.3°C | 27 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 22.2°C | 6.3°C | 14.3°C | 25 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 13.2°C | 1.4°C | 7.3°C | 29 mm | under 1 cm |
| November | 5.8°C | −2.4°C | 1.8°C | 28 mm | 8 cm |
| December | 1.1°C | −5.6°C | −2.3°C | 30 mm | 20 cm |
| Year | 14.4°C | 1.9°C | 8.2°C | 344 mm | 62 cm |
January: −30.1°C at its coldest, 13.6°C at its warmest
From one year to the next, February’s average typically shifts by 2.8°C around its normal of −1.0°C, the widest of any month, while August’s shifts by 1.0°C.
Where West Kelowna’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the Canadian Climate Normals, 1991–2020, at Kelowna (the closest location with all twelve months of temperatures).
- Other locations: precipitation and snowfall come from the nearest location that publishes all twelve months of them, as named above.
- Comparisons: the 2,500-plus towns and neighbourhoods of Canada, each read from its closest normals location; whole cities and reserves aren’t counted.
- 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 West Kelowna’s climate
How warm does West Kelowna get in summer?
July is the warmest month, with average highs of 28.5°C.
How cold does West Kelowna get in winter?
The coldest nights come in January, averaging −5.9°C.
How much rain and snow does West Kelowna get?
Measured as water, a year brings 344 mm: 44 mm in June, the wettest month, and 19 mm in February, the driest.
Are these figures for West Kelowna itself?
No, they come from Kelowna; ECCC keeps no 1991–2020 normals in West Kelowna itself.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for West Kelowna →
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).