Photo: awmcphee · CC0Few Canadian towns have colder winter nights than Fort Smith
July afternoons average 23.6°C. A year here swings 50°C from midwinter lows to midsummer highs. By precipitation alone, it ranks drier than 97% of Canadian towns. Frost comes on about 220 days a year, so leave time to clear the car.
Figures: ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals at Fort Smith (3.5 km west).
A year in Fort Smith at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Fort Smith’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in the Northwest Territories beside it.
What a year in Fort Smith feels like
Each season’s and each month’s usual high and low, 1991–2020.
Frost on 220 days, 20°C on 74
Frost comes from September to May; in January almost every night freezes. Some 82 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
360 mm of precipitation in a typical year
July is the wettest month and February the driest. The wettest of 4 towns of 2,500+ in the Northwest Territories. About 76 days a year bring 1 mm or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
142 cm of snow in a typical year
From October to May snow is likely; November is the peak, at about 29 cm. 3rd snowiest of 3 towns of 2,500+ in the Northwest Territories.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
Heating a home in Fort Smith
88% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: September to May.
Warm days count for nothing; each colder day adds how far its mean sits below 18°C. That means homes here need more heating than almost every Canadian town.
Living with Fort Smith’s climate
The averages read for the garden, the outdoors and the coldest and hottest days.
Frost usually lets go around 1 June and returns near 8 September, about 98 days apart.
Afternoons of 17–27°C and nights of at least 8°C arrive in Jun, Jul and Aug.
Parks & trails →Winter brings about 106 days with a wind chill below −20.
Humid summer days, the humidex above 30, number about 7 a year.
Averages smooth over blizzards, ice storms, floods and heat waves; Fort Smith’s hazards page covers the risks.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Fort Smith
Fort Smith is a composite: ECCC joins 3 stations’ readings to make its 1991–2020 normals.
| Distance from the town | 3.5 km west |
| Station altitude | 205 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −45.2°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 35.1°C |
| Average wind | 8.3 km/h on average, most often from the south-east |
| Next-nearest location | Fort Chipewyan, 145 km |
How Fort Smith 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 the Northwest Territories.
Fort Smith weather by month
Month by month, 1991–2020: the usual high, low and mean, the rain and snow, and the snowfall.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain & snow | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −17.4°C | −26.2°C | −21.9°C | 18 mm | 25 cm |
| February | −13.2°C | −24.3°C | −18.8°C | 13 mm | 17 cm |
| March | −5.1°C | −18.6°C | −11.9°C | 15 mm | 17 cm |
| April | 5.6°C | −7.1°C | −0.7°C | 14 mm | 8 cm |
| May | 14.8°C | 1.6°C | 8.2°C | 27 mm | 6 cm |
| June | 21.6°C | 8.4°C | 15.0°C | 47 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 23.6°C | 11.1°C | 17.4°C | 59 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 21.2°C | 9.0°C | 15.1°C | 57 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 14.2°C | 3.5°C | 8.9°C | 43 mm | 1 cm |
| October | 4.3°C | −3.3°C | 0.5°C | 30 mm | 19 cm |
| November | −7.0°C | −14.1°C | −10.6°C | 22 mm | 29 cm |
| December | −14.5°C | −22.6°C | −18.6°C | 17 mm | 22 cm |
| Year | 4.0°C | −6.9°C | −1.4°C | 360 mm | 142 cm |
December varies most from one year to the next (4.1°C), June least
Bars run from each month’s record low to its record high since 1991. March spans the most, from −41.4°C (1995) to 16.7°C (2019).
Where Fort Smith’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: ECCC’s 1991–2020 Canadian Climate Normals for Fort Smith, the nearest location with a full year of temperatures.
- Comparisons: every Canadian town and neighbourhood of 2,500 or more, each read from its own nearest location; city totals and reserves are left out.
- 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 Fort Smith’s climate
How warm does Fort Smith get in summer?
Peak warmth comes in July, at about 23.6°C by mid-afternoon.
How cold does Fort Smith get in winter?
A typical January night falls to −26.2°C, the year’s low point.
How much rain and snow does Fort Smith get?
Rain and snow, with snow counted as water, total 360 mm a year; July leads with 59 mm and February trails with 13 mm.
How long does snow stay on the ground?
Snow cover of 1 cm or more lasts about 184 days in a typical year.
Are these figures for Fort Smith itself?
They are: the normals station that gives them stands in Fort Smith.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Fort Smith →
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).