Photo: U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Canada · Public domainThompson sits near the bottom of Canadian towns for winter warmth
The warmest part of a July day comes in at 23.1°C on average. None of the 189 towns of 2,500+ in Manitoba has cooler July afternoons. The year swings widely: the coldest month’s nights and the warmest month’s afternoons are 52°C apart. About 87 days a year bring 1 mm of precipitation or more.
Read at Thompson, 6.3 km north: ECCC’s normals for 1991–2020.
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
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals.
Frost on 239 days, 20°C on 69
From August to June frost is routine, and in January it comes on almost every night. Some 101 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
About 522 mm of rain and snow a year
July brings the most rain and snow; February, the least.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
Snowfall: about 180 cm in a normal year
Expect snow from September to May, with about 34 cm in November, the snowiest month. 3rd snowiest of 187 towns of 2,500+ in Manitoba.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
Heating a home in Thompson
86% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: September to May.
ECCC sums, over the year, how many degrees each day’s average falls short of 18°C. In heating terms, homes need more heating than almost every Canadian town.
Living with Thompson’s climate
Gardening, time outside, winter cold and summer heat, from the 1991–2020 normals.
Tender plants are usually safe from around 14 June until frost returns near 28 August: about 74 days.
The comfortable months for a day outside, highs of 17–27°C and nights of 8°C or more: Jul.
Parks & trails →Expect around 126 days a year when the wind chill sinks below −20.
Count on some 11 humid days a year with the humidex past 30.
Storms, floods and heat waves sit outside these normals; Thompson’s hazards page covers them.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Thompson
ECCC builds the Thompson normals from 2 stations’ records over 1991–2020, joined where one replaced another.
| Distance from the town | 6.3 km north |
| Station altitude | 224 m |
| Completeness | at least 25 years |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −47.0°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 37.4°C |
| Average wind | 11.6 km/h on average, most often from the west |
| Next-nearest location | Norway House, 198 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
The nearest places on a normals location of their own: those that share Thompson’s would only repeat its figures. No closer places have figures: these lie 121–144 km from Thompson.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thompson | 23.1°C | −28.7°C | 522 mm |
| Cross Lake 19A 121 km · Norway House | 23.5°C about the same | −25.5°C 3.2°C milder | 495 mm |
| Split Lake 171 122 km · Gillam | 22.1°C 1.0°C cooler | −28.5°C about the same | 498 mm |
Thompson weather by month
Each month’s normals, 1991–2020: high, low, mean, precipitation and snowfall.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain & snow | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −18.1°C | −28.7°C | −23.4°C | 20 mm | 24 cm |
| February | −13.4°C | −26.8°C | −20.1°C | 16 mm | 18 cm |
| March | −5.3°C | −20.4°C | −12.9°C | 23 mm | 24 cm |
| April | 4.7°C | −9.6°C | −2.5°C | 24 mm | 19 cm |
| May | 12.9°C | −1.0°C | 6.0°C | 43 mm | 9 cm |
| June | 20.2°C | 5.6°C | 12.9°C | 68 mm | 1 cm |
| July | 23.1°C | 9.3°C | 16.2°C | 91 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 21.2°C | 7.8°C | 14.5°C | 86 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 14.2°C | 2.1°C | 8.2°C | 60 mm | 2 cm |
| October | 4.3°C | −4.0°C | 0.2°C | 40 mm | 23 cm |
| November | −7.1°C | −16.4°C | −11.8°C | 30 mm | 34 cm |
| December | −15.5°C | −25.7°C | −20.6°C | 22 mm | 27 cm |
| Year | 3.4°C | −9.0°C | −2.8°C | 522 mm | 180 cm |
April: −32.8°C at its coldest, 26.2°C at its warmest
Year to year, December varies most (a standard deviation of 4.1°C around −20.6°C) and July least (1.2°C).
Where Thompson’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the Canadian Climate Normals, 1991–2020, at Thompson (the closest location with all twelve months of temperatures).
- Comparisons: Canada’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ (no city totals, no reserves), each through its own nearest location.
- 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 Thompson’s climate
How warm does Thompson get in summer?
Afternoons average 23.1°C in July, the warmest time of year.
How cold does Thompson get in winter?
Deep winter means January, when nights average −28.7°C.
How much rain and snow does Thompson get?
Rain and snow add up to about 522 mm of water a year; July brings the most (91 mm), February the least (16 mm).
How long does snow stay on the ground?
Expect snow on the ground, at least 1 cm, for about 183 days a year.
Are these figures for Thompson itself?
Almost: ECCC’s Thompson location, which gives these figures, lies a short way outside Thompson.
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).