Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Cochrane sits near the bottom of Canadian towns for winter warmth
In July the day’s top temperature is typically 24.4°C. Summers stay cool: July afternoons here are cooler than in 67% of Canadian towns. Seasons differ by 47°C, from the coldest nights to the warmest afternoons. Picnics, hikes and garden evenings come into their own from June to August, with highs of 22–24°C.
Far-off figures: ECCC’s closest normals for Cochrane come from Timmins/Victor Power, 63 km south-west, so take them as the area’s climate.
A year in Cochrane at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Cochrane’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Ontario beside it.
What a year in Cochrane feels like
Seasons and months as ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals give them: a typical day’s high and low.
About 207 frosts and 92 warm days a year
Frost comes from September to June; in January almost every night freezes. Some 56 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
Rain and melted snow: about 796 mm a year
October brings the most rain and snow; February, the least. On about 129 days a year, 1 mm or more falls.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
Snowfall: about 308 cm in a normal year
The snow season runs October to May; December brings the most, about 64 cm.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
Heating a home in Cochrane
88% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to May.
Each day the mean sits under 18°C adds its shortfall; a year’s total is its heating degree days. By this count, homes here need more heating than 98% of Canadian towns.
Living with Cochrane’s climate
Gardening, time outside, winter cold and summer heat, from the 1991–2020 normals.
From about 7 June to 7 September the garden is usually clear of frost, some 91 days.
Plan time outside for Jun, Jul and Aug: highs of 17–27°C and nights no colder than 8°C.
Parks & trails →Plan for about 85 days a year with a wind chill below −20.
Muggy heat with a humidex over 30 arrives on about 22 days a year.
Ice storms, floods and heat waves are risks, not averages: they are on Cochrane’s hazards page.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Timmins/Victor Power
ECCC builds the Timmins/Victor Power normals from 3 stations’ records over 1991–2020, joined where one replaced another.
| Distance from the town | 63 km south-west |
| Station altitude | 294 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −43.9°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 38.8°C |
| Average wind | 11.7 km/h on average, most often from the south |
| Next-nearest location | Kapuskasing, 112 km |
How Cochrane 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 Ontario.
Nearby towns’ climate
The nearest places on a normals location of their own: those that share Cochrane’s would only repeat its figures. The nearest places to Cochrane with figures are 47–77 km away.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cochrane Timmins/Victor Power | 24.4°C | −22.3°C | 796 mm |
| Cochrane, Unorganized, North Part 47 km · Kapuskasing | 24.1°C about the same | −23.3°C 1.0°C colder | 806 mm |
| Black River-Matheson 77 km · Kirkland Lake | 24.0°C about the same | −21.9°C about the same | 787 mm |
Cochrane 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 | −10.4°C | −22.3°C | −16.4°C | 49 mm | 59 cm |
| February | −7.6°C | −21.0°C | −14.4°C | 40 mm | 48 cm |
| March | −0.7°C | −14.4°C | −7.5°C | 48 mm | 43 cm |
| April | 7.2°C | −5.3°C | 0.9°C | 62 mm | 25 cm |
| May | 16.8°C | 2.5°C | 9.7°C | 70 mm | 3 cm |
| June | 22.4°C | 8.1°C | 15.3°C | 80 mm | under 1 cm |
| July | 24.4°C | 10.9°C | 17.7°C | 79 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 22.8°C | 9.6°C | 16.2°C | 76 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 17.8°C | 5.5°C | 11.7°C | 81 mm | 1 cm |
| October | 9.1°C | −0.1°C | 4.5°C | 86 mm | 14 cm |
| November | 0.8°C | −7.1°C | −3.2°C | 69 mm | 51 cm |
| December | −6.5°C | −15.9°C | −11.2°C | 57 mm | 64 cm |
| Year | 8.0°C | −4.1°C | 1.9°C | 796 mm | 308 cm |
January strays furthest from its normal year to year, by 3.7°C; July the least
Each bar spans a month’s coldest and warmest readings over thirty years; March’s run from −36.5°C in 2003 to 27.9°C in 2012.
Where Cochrane’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the closest ECCC location with twelve months of temperature normals, Timmins/Victor Power, 1991–2020.
- 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, absent from every 1991–2020 location, and an altitude correction, for want of the town’s own elevation.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Cochrane’s climate
How warm does Cochrane get in summer?
Afternoons average 24.4°C in July, the warmest time of year.
How cold does Cochrane get in winter?
At its coldest, in January, the normal low is −22.3°C.
How much rain and snow does Cochrane get?
Over twelve months, rain and melted snow come to 796 mm; the range runs from 40 mm in February to 86 mm in October.
How long does snow stay on the ground?
A layer of at least 1 cm stays down on about 164 days a year.
Are these figures for Cochrane itself?
They are the figures for Timmins/Victor Power, which read better as the region’s climate than Cochrane’s own.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Cochrane →
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).