Photo: United Kingdom Hydrographic Office · Public domainFew Canadian towns have cooler summers than Placentia
Midwinter brings lows of about −5.6°C. None of the 32 towns of 2,500+ in Newfoundland and Labrador has milder January nights. From frozen January to warm July, readings climb 25°C. Ice scrapers and block heaters earn their keep on roughly 133 days a year at 0°C or below.
Figures: ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals at Dunville/Argentia (7.9 km north-west).
A year in Placentia at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Placentia’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Newfoundland and Labrador beside it.
What a year in Placentia feels like
Seasons and months as ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals give them: a typical day’s high and low.
About 133 frosts and 18 warm days a year
The frost season runs October to May, and January freezes nearly every night.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
About 1,133 mm of rain and snow a year
December is the wettest month and April the driest. 30th wettest of 32 towns of 2,500+ in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
321 cm of snow in a typical year
Snow falls from November to April, most of all in January (about 91 cm). 23rd snowiest of 31 towns of 2,500+ in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snowfall: Whitbourne, 37 km away (Dunville/Argentia records no complete year of it).
Heating a home in Placentia
80% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to May.
The count adds up, day by day, how far the mean temperature falls short of 18°C.
Living with Placentia’s climate
What the normals mean for a garden, a day outside and the depth of winter.
Wait until about 10 May to plant out; frost tends to come back around 4 November, about 176 days later.
The outdoor season by the averages is Jul and Aug, with highs of 17–27°C and lows of 8°C or more.
Parks & trails →A wind chill below −20 is part of about 9 days a year here.
Extremes don’t show in averages: floods, wildfire smoke and ice storms are on Placentia’s hazards page.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Dunville/Argentia
ECCC builds the Dunville/Argentia normals from 2 stations’ records over 1991–2020, joined where one replaced another.
| Distance from the town | 7.9 km north-west |
| Station altitude | 10 m |
| Completeness | at least 20 years |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Snowfall from | Whitbourne, 37 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −22.0°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 29.0°C |
| Average wind | 24.1 km/h on average, most often from the south-west |
| Next-nearest location | Whitbourne, 37 km |
How Placentia 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 Newfoundland and Labrador.
Nearby towns’ climate
The nearest places on a normals location of their own: those that share Placentia’s would only repeat its figures. Placentia has no close neighbour with figures; the nearest is 38 km away.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Placentia Dunville/Argentia | 17.4°C | −5.6°C | 1,133 mm |
| Whitbourne 38 km · Whitbourne | 21.1°C 3.7°C warmer | −8.7°C 3.1°C colder | 1,748 mm |
Placentia weather by month
Average daily high and low, mean temperature, rain and snow (as water) and snowfall by month, 1991–2020.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain & snow | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0.7°C | −5.6°C | −2.5°C | 108 mm | 91 cm |
| February | 0.3°C | −5.8°C | −2.8°C | 77 mm | 83 cm |
| March | 2.1°C | −3.8°C | −0.9°C | 75 mm | 49 cm |
| April | 6.0°C | −0.2°C | 2.9°C | 71 mm | 17 cm |
| May | 9.8°C | 3.2°C | 6.5°C | 80 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 13.6°C | 6.9°C | 10.3°C | 77 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 17.4°C | 11.6°C | 14.5°C | 112 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 19.1°C | 13.6°C | 16.4°C | 85 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 16.4°C | 10.7°C | 13.6°C | 84 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 11.7°C | 6.3°C | 9.0°C | 120 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 7.6°C | 2.2°C | 4.9°C | 122 mm | 13 cm |
| December | 3.4°C | −2.2°C | 0.6°C | 123 mm | 66 cm |
| Year | 9.0°C | 3.1°C | 6.0°C | 1,133 mm | 321 cm |
From −21.0°C to 15.5°C: January’s coldest and warmest days since 1991
From one year to the next, February’s average typically shifts by 2.0°C around its normal of −2.8°C, the widest of any month, while June’s shifts by 0.9°C.
Where Placentia’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the 1991–2020 Canadian Climate Normals at Dunville/Argentia, the closest ECCC location with twelve months of temperature normals.
- 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: a sunshine figure (ECCC published none for 1991–2020) and any lapse-rate correction for height, as the town has no elevation here.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Placentia’s climate
How warm does Placentia get in summer?
Peak warmth comes in August, at about 19.1°C by mid-afternoon.
How cold does Placentia get in winter?
Overnight lows average −5.8°C in February, the coldest month.
How much rain and snow does Placentia get?
The yearly total is about 1,133 mm. December gets 123 mm, the most of any month; April gets 71 mm, the least.
Are these figures for Placentia itself?
Yes, measured at Dunville/Argentia, which sits inside Placentia’s boundary.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Placentia →
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).