Photo: Globalphotobank · CC BY-SA 4.0Summers in Williams Lake are cooler than in 94% of Canadian towns
Deep winter brings January lows near −10.9°C. June is the wettest month, February the driest. By precipitation alone, it ranks drier than 78% of Canadian towns. Frost comes on about 186 days a year, so leave time to clear the car.
Measured at Williams Lake, 7.8 km north-east: ECCC’s normals for 1991–2020.
A year in Williams Lake at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Williams Lake’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in British Columbia beside it.
What a year in Williams Lake feels like
Seasons and months as ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals give them: a typical day’s high and low.
About 186 frosts and 72 warm days a year
The frost season runs September to May, and December freezes nearly every night. On about 14 nights a year the air falls below −20°C.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
About 463 mm of rain and snow a year
About 96 days a year bring 1 mm or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
About 176 cm of snow a year
From October to May snow is likely; December is the peak, at about 42 cm.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
Heating a home in Williams Lake
84% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to May.
Think of it as a year’s worth of daily shortfalls below 18°C, added up. That means homes here need more heating than 63% of Canadian towns.
Living with Williams Lake’s climate
The averages read for the garden, the outdoors and the coldest and hottest days.
Count on about 114 frost-free days: the last frost averages 21 May, the first 14 September.
Afternoons of 17–27°C and nights of at least 8°C arrive in Jul and Aug.
Parks & trails →Roughly 23 days a year feel colder than −20 in the wind.
The humidex tops 30 on about 4 days a year: muggy days to plan around.
Storms, floods and heat waves sit outside these normals; Williams Lake’s hazards page covers them.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Williams Lake
ECCC builds the Williams Lake normals from 2 stations’ records over 1991–2020, joined where one replaced another.
| Distance from the town | 7.8 km north-east |
| Station altitude | 940 m |
| Completeness | at least 20 years |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −39.5°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 34.2°C |
| Average wind | 9.8 km/h on average, most often from the south-east |
| Next-nearest location | Quesnel, 103 km |
How Williams Lake 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
Places around Williams Lake whose figures come from another normals location. Distances here run 69–92 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Williams Lake.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Williams Lake | 22.7°C | −10.9°C | 463 mm |
| Mile 108 Recreational Ranch 69 km · Clinton | 23.9°C 1.2°C warmer | −9.8°C 1.1°C milder | 463 mm |
| Electoral Area I, Cariboo 88 km · Quesnel | 24.5°C 1.8°C warmer | −10.8°C about the same | 510 mm |
Williams Lake weather by month
Each month’s normals, 1991–2020: high, low, mean, precipitation and snowfall.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain & snow | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −2.9°C | −10.9°C | −6.9°C | 37 mm | 41 cm |
| February | 0.5°C | −9.2°C | −4.4°C | 19 mm | 20 cm |
| March | 5.5°C | −5.4°C | 0.1°C | 20 mm | 21 cm |
| April | 11.0°C | −1.2°C | 4.9°C | 22 mm | 8 cm |
| May | 16.4°C | 3.3°C | 9.9°C | 42 mm | 3 cm |
| June | 19.5°C | 7.1°C | 13.4°C | 66 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 22.7°C | 9.5°C | 16.2°C | 57 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 22.5°C | 8.5°C | 15.5°C | 43 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 17.3°C | 4.2°C | 10.8°C | 37 mm | 1 cm |
| October | 9.5°C | −0.6°C | 4.5°C | 41 mm | 9 cm |
| November | 1.9°C | −5.3°C | −1.7°C | 42 mm | 31 cm |
| December | −3.0°C | −10.4°C | −6.7°C | 38 mm | 42 cm |
| Year | 10.1°C | −0.9°C | 4.6°C | 463 mm | 176 cm |
The month with the widest range: January, −39.3°C to 10.9°C
Two years in three, February’s average falls within 3.9°C of its normal of −4.4°C; June keeps to within 1.2°C.
Where Williams Lake’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: ECCC’s normals for Williams Lake, 1991–2020, chosen as the nearest location with a full temperature record.
- 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: hours of sunshine, missing from the 1991–2020 normals, and a height correction: the town has no elevation on file.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Williams Lake’s climate
How warm does Williams Lake get in summer?
Highs reach 22.7°C on an average July day; no month is warmer.
How cold does Williams Lake get in winter?
Of all twelve months, January has the coldest nights, about −10.9°C.
How much rain and snow does Williams Lake get?
About 463 mm a year, rain and melted snow together. June is the wettest month (66 mm) and February the driest (19 mm).
How long does snow stay on the ground?
Snow lies on the ground for about 129 days in a normal year.
Are these figures for Williams Lake itself?
They are: the normals station that gives them stands in Williams Lake.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Williams Lake →
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).