Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainWinter nights in Thompson are colder than in 85% of Canadian towns
Expect July afternoons of about 25.6°C. By precipitation alone, it ranks drier than 69% of Canadian towns. A year here swings 44°C from midwinter lows to midsummer highs. Frost comes on about 182 days a year, so leave time to clear the car.
ECCC publishes no normals for Thompson itself; the figures are those of Morden, 22 km south-east.
A year in Thompson at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Thompson’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Manitoba beside it.
What a year in Thompson feels like
Seasons and months as ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals give them: a typical day’s high and low.
Frost on 182 days, 20°C on 111
The frost season runs September to May, and December freezes nearly every night. Some 39 nights a year drop under −20°C.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
528 mm of precipitation in a typical year
June is the wettest month and February the driest. Some 74 days a year see 1 mm of rain or snow or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
Snowfall: about 137 cm in a normal year
From October to May snow is likely; December is the peak, at about 34 cm. 9th snowiest of 188 towns of 2,500+ in Manitoba.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
Morden publishes no full year of snowfall, so these figures come from Cypress River, 64 km away.
Heating a home in Thompson
92% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to April.
Every day colder than 18°C on average adds its gap in degrees to the year’s heating total. A house here needs more heating than 82% of Canadian towns.
Living with Thompson’s climate
Gardening, time outside, winter cold and summer heat, from the 1991–2020 normals.
A normal year gives the garden about 135 frost-free days, roughly 15 May to 28 September.
For long days outdoors, Jun, Jul, Aug and Sep bring highs of 17–27°C and lows of 8°C or more.
Parks & trails →Expect around 69 days a year when the wind chill sinks below −20.
Humid heat, a humidex over 30, comes on about 37 days a year.
Thirty-year normals hide the storms and the extremes: the hazards page has Thompson’s risks.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Morden
ECCC builds the Morden normals from 2 stations’ records over 1991–2020, joined where one replaced another.
| Distance from the town | 22 km south-east |
| Station altitude | 298 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Snowfall from | Cypress River, 64 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −42.0°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 39.1°C |
| Average wind | 12.7 km/h on average, most often from the west |
| Next-nearest location | Portage Southport, 62 km |
How Thompson 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 Manitoba.
Nearby towns’ climate
Nearby places read from a different ECCC location (places on Thompson’s own would show the same figures). The nearest places to Thompson with figures are 29–49 km away.
Thompson weather by month
Each month’s normals, 1991–2020: high, low, mean, precipitation and snowfall.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain & snow | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −9.5°C | −18.5°C | −14.0°C | 17 mm | 23 cm |
| February | −7.2°C | −16.4°C | −11.8°C | 16 mm | 18 cm |
| March | 0.0°C | −9.0°C | −4.5°C | 20 mm | 16 cm |
| April | 10.0°C | −1.4°C | 4.3°C | 30 mm | 11 cm |
| May | 18.1°C | 5.5°C | 11.8°C | 76 mm | 6 cm |
| June | 23.2°C | 11.9°C | 17.6°C | 89 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 25.6°C | 14.3°C | 20.0°C | 73 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 25.4°C | 13.0°C | 19.2°C | 65 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 20.1°C | 8.0°C | 14.1°C | 54 mm | under 1 cm |
| October | 10.9°C | 1.1°C | 6.0°C | 39 mm | 8 cm |
| November | 0.7°C | −7.5°C | −3.4°C | 27 mm | 22 cm |
| December | −6.7°C | −14.9°C | −10.8°C | 22 mm | 34 cm |
| Year | 9.2°C | −1.2°C | 4.0°C | 528 mm | 137 cm |
December strays furthest from its normal year to year, by 4.2°C; August the least
The thirty-year records stretch furthest in March: a low of −32.8°C in 2003 and a high of 23.1°C in 2012.
Where Thompson’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: Environment and Climate Change Canada’s 1991–2020 normals, Morden: the nearest of its locations with every month’s temperatures.
- Other locations: a location missing months of precipitation or snow is filled from the nearest that has them all, never mixed month by month.
- 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 Thompson’s climate
How warm does Thompson get in summer?
Of all twelve months, July has the warmest afternoons, about 25.6°C.
How cold does Thompson get in winter?
January nights average −18.5°C, the coldest of the year.
How much rain and snow does Thompson get?
Over twelve months, rain and melted snow come to 528 mm; the range runs from 16 mm in February to 89 mm in June.
Are these figures for Thompson itself?
Not as such: Morden is the nearest normals location, and Thompson has none.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Thompson →
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).