Photo: Andrea_44 from Leamington, Ontario , Canada · CC BY 2.0Essex sits near the top of Canadian towns for July heat
In January the night’s low is typically −7.0°C. Only about 117 nights a year bring a frost, fewer than in 86% of Canadian towns. Precipitation peaks in May and eases off in February. Frost comes on about 117 days a year, so leave time to clear the car.
Figures: ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals at Harrow (5.2 km south).
A year in Essex at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Essex’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Ontario beside it.
What a year in Essex feels like
Each season’s and each month’s usual high and low, 1991–2020.
Frost on 117 days, 20°C on 135
Frosts fall from October to April; January has the most, about 26. About 18 days a year top 30°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 827 mm a year
About 101 days a year bring 1 mm or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
About 85 cm of snow a year
Snow falls from November to April, most of all in January (about 30 cm). 852nd snowiest of 854 towns of 2,500+ in Ontario.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Harrow publishes no full year of snowfall, so these figures come from Kingsville, 19 km away.
Heating a home in Essex
94% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: November to April.
Heating degree days total each day’s gap between its mean temperature and 18°C. In heating terms, homes need less heating than 92% of Canadian towns.
Living with Essex’s climate
Gardening, time outside, winter cold and summer heat, from the 1991–2020 normals.
Seedlings can go out once the average last frost, around 25 April, has passed; autumn’s first, near 23 October, ends a season of about 180 days.
For long days outdoors, May, Jun, Aug and Sep bring highs of 17–27°C and lows of 8°C or more.
Parks & trails →Expect around 10 days a year when the wind chill sinks below −20.
Count on some 69 humid days a year with the humidex past 30.
Storms, floods and heat waves sit outside these normals; Essex’s hazards page covers them.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Harrow
ECCC builds the Harrow normals from 3 stations’ records over 1991–2020, joined where one replaced another.
| Distance from the town | 5.2 km south |
| Station altitude | 191 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Snowfall from | Kingsville, 19 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −27.2°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 37.8°C |
| Average wind | 11.7 km/h on average, most often from the west |
| Next-nearest location | Kingsville, 19 km |
How Essex 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
Places around Essex whose figures come from another normals location. The nearest places to Essex with figures are 13–26 km away.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essex Harrow | 27.6°C | −7.0°C | 827 mm |
| Kingsville 13 km · Kingsville | 27.0°C 0.6°C cooler | −6.8°C about the same | 842 mm |
| LaSalle 23 km · Windsor | 28.3°C 0.7°C warmer | −7.1°C about the same | 954 mm |
| Tecumseh 26 km · Windsor Riverside | 29.2°C 1.6°C warmer | −6.3°C 0.7°C milder | 935 mm |
Essex 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 | −0.4°C | −7.0°C | −3.7°C | 60 mm | 30 cm |
| February | 1.2°C | −6.0°C | −2.5°C | 52 mm | 17 cm |
| March | 6.4°C | −2.1°C | 2.2°C | 68 mm | 17 cm |
| April | 13.4°C | 3.2°C | 8.3°C | 79 mm | 2 cm |
| May | 20.0°C | 9.7°C | 14.8°C | 81 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 25.4°C | 15.4°C | 20.4°C | 72 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 27.6°C | 17.6°C | 22.6°C | 70 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 26.5°C | 16.7°C | 21.6°C | 73 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 22.9°C | 12.9°C | 17.9°C | 77 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 15.8°C | 6.9°C | 11.4°C | 67 mm | under 1 cm |
| November | 8.5°C | 1.4°C | 5.0°C | 65 mm | 3 cm |
| December | 2.4°C | −3.5°C | −0.6°C | 64 mm | 16 cm |
| Year | 14.1°C | 5.4°C | 9.8°C | 827 mm | 85 cm |
January varies most from one year to the next (2.8°C), June least
March has the widest record range, −22.8°C in 2003 to 24.5°C in 2012; the tick on each bar is the month’s normal.
Where Essex’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: ECCC’s 1991–2020 Canadian Climate Normals for Harrow, the nearest location with a full year of temperatures.
- Other locations: where a location publishes no full year of precipitation or snowfall, the nearest one that does supplies it, named beside those figures.
- Comparisons: every place of 2,500+ in Canada but the city hubs and the reserves, each on its nearest ECCC 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 Essex’s climate
How warm does Essex get in summer?
Of all twelve months, July has the warmest afternoons, about 27.6°C.
How cold does Essex get in winter?
In January, the coldest month, the typical low is −7.0°C.
How much rain and snow does Essex get?
Around 827 mm a year in all, from 81 mm in May down to 52 mm in February.
Are these figures for Essex itself?
Yes, measured at Harrow, which sits inside Essex’s boundary.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Essex →
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).