Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 3.0Witless Bay has some of the coolest summers among Canadian towns
The coldest hours of a January night bottom out at −7.2°C on average. It is a wet place: more rain and snow fall here than on 94% of Canadian towns. A year here swings 29°C from midwinter lows to midsummer highs. About 155 days a year bring 1 mm of precipitation or more.
ECCC publishes no normals for Witless Bay itself; the figures are those of St. John's (West), 27 km north.
A year in Witless Bay at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Witless Bay’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Newfoundland and Labrador beside it.
What a year in Witless Bay feels like
Seasons and months as ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals give them: a typical day’s high and low.
154 frost days and 58 days above 20°C a year
The frost season runs October to June, 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
1,381 mm of precipitation in a typical year
December is the wettest month and June the driest.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Snowfall: about 363 cm in a normal year
From October to May snow is likely; January is the peak, at about 95 cm.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
ECCC’s St. John's (West) normals leave snowfall out; the figures here come from St. John's (Airport), 38 km away.
Heating a home in Witless Bay
82% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to May.
One degree below 18°C for one day makes one heating degree day; the year’s days are added together.
Living with Witless Bay’s climate
What the normals mean for a garden, a day outside and the depth of winter.
The outdoor season by the averages is Jul, Aug and Sep, with highs of 17–27°C and lows of 8°C or more.
Parks & trails →About 9 days a year bring a wind chill under −20, when bare skin chills fast.
Humid summer days, the humidex above 30, number about 18 a year.
Storms, floods and heat waves sit outside these normals; Witless Bay’s hazards page covers them.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: St. John's (West)
Behind the 1991–2020 normals for St. John's (West) are 3 stations, which ECCC combines into one record.
| Distance from the town | 27 km north |
| Station altitude | 114 m |
| Completeness | at least 20 years |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Snowfall from | St. John's (Airport), 38 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −26.0°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 31.8°C |
| Average wind | 15.3 km/h on average, most often from the west |
| Next-nearest location | St. John's (Airport), 38 km |
How Witless Bay 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
Nearby places read from a different ECCC location (places on Witless Bay’s own would show the same figures). Witless Bay has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 27–41 km out.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Witless Bay St. John's (West) | 21.3°C | −7.2°C | 1,381 mm |
| Holyrood 27 km · Whitbourne | 21.1°C about the same | −8.7°C 1.5°C colder | 1,748 mm |
| Portugal Cove-St. Philip's 36 km · St. John's (Airport) | 20.9°C about the same | −7.8°C 0.6°C colder | 1,539 mm |
Witless Bay 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 | 0.1°C | −7.2°C | −3.6°C | 140 mm | 95 cm |
| February | −0.3°C | −7.7°C | −4.0°C | 131 mm | 77 cm |
| March | 1.8°C | −5.2°C | −1.8°C | 129 mm | 62 cm |
| April | 6.3°C | −1.4°C | 2.5°C | 105 mm | 30 cm |
| May | 11.5°C | 2.3°C | 6.9°C | 83 mm | 5 cm |
| June | 16.4°C | 6.8°C | 11.6°C | 73 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 21.3°C | 11.7°C | 16.5°C | 86 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 21.3°C | 12.6°C | 17.0°C | 89 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 17.4°C | 9.1°C | 13.3°C | 117 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 11.8°C | 4.7°C | 8.2°C | 130 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 7.0°C | 0.5°C | 3.8°C | 138 mm | 22 cm |
| December | 2.6°C | −3.5°C | −0.4°C | 161 mm | 70 cm |
| Year | 9.8°C | 1.9°C | 5.8°C | 1,381 mm | 363 cm |
In February, anything from −26.0°C to 15.3°C
Two years in three, July’s average falls within 2.2°C of its normal of 16.5°C; September keeps to within 1.3°C.
Where Witless Bay’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: ECCC’s 1991–2020 Canadian Climate Normals for St. John's (West), the nearest location with a full year of 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: Canada’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ (no city totals, no reserves), each through its own nearest 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 Witless Bay’s climate
How warm does Witless Bay get in summer?
Highs reach 21.3°C on an average July day; no month is warmer.
How cold does Witless Bay get in winter?
Winter bottoms out in February, with lows near −7.7°C.
How much rain and snow does Witless Bay get?
Rain and snow, with snow counted as water, total 1,381 mm a year; December leads with 161 mm and June trails with 73 mm.
Are these figures for Witless Bay itself?
Not as such: St. John's (West) is the nearest normals location, and Witless Bay has none.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Witless Bay →
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).