Ice rarely forms: Highland sees fewer frosts than 73% of Canadian towns
Expect July afternoons of about 26.6°C. Precipitation peaks in July and eases off in February. Its July heat outdoes that of 70% of Canadian towns. Plan for rain or snow on about 114 days a year, the days with 1 mm or more.
1991–2020 normals from ECCC’s Hamilton location, 13 km west.
A year in Highland at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Highland’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Ontario beside it.
What a year in Highland feels like
Each season’s and each month’s usual high and low, 1991–2020.
139 frost days and 123 days above 20°C a year
The frost season runs October to May, and January freezes nearly every night. Heat of 30°C or more comes on about 13 days a year.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
About 902 mm of rain and snow a year
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
Snowfall: about 141 cm in a normal year
Expect snow from November to April, with about 44 cm in January, the snowiest month.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
Snowfall: Welland-Pelham, 47 km away (Hamilton records no complete year of it).
Heating a home in Highland
92% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to April.
Warm days count for nothing; each colder day adds how far its mean sits below 18°C. Homes here need less heating than 77% of Canadian towns.
Living with Highland’s climate
What the normals mean for a garden, a day outside and the depth of winter.
Frost usually lets go around 1 May and returns near 12 October, about 164 days apart.
Afternoons of 17–27°C and nights of at least 8°C arrive in Jun, Jul, Aug and Sep.
Parks & trails →Roughly 20 days a year feel colder than −20 in the wind.
The humidex tops 30 on about 59 days a year: muggy days to plan around.
A typical year is calm by definition; Highland’s hazards page covers the exceptions.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Hamilton
Hamilton is a composite: ECCC joins 2 stations’ readings to make its 1991–2020 normals.
| Distance from the town | 13 km west |
| Station altitude | 238 m |
| Completeness | at least 20 years |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Snowfall from | Welland-Pelham, 47 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −30.0°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 36.4°C |
| Average wind | 16.0 km/h on average, most often from the south-west |
| Next-nearest location | Burlington Piers, 14 km |
How Highland compares
Compared with 2,611 towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more across Canada; the dots mark the other normals locations in Ontario.
Nearby towns’ climate
The nearest places on a normals location of their own: those that share Highland’s would only repeat its figures.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highland Hamilton | 26.6°C | −9.1°C | 902 mm |
| Felker 1.2 km · Burlington Piers | 25.5°C 1.1°C cooler | −6.3°C 2.8°C milder | 902 mm |
| Valley Park 2.3 km · Hamilton | 26.6°C about the same | −9.1°C about the same | 902 mm |
Highland weather by month
Each month’s normals, 1991–2020: high, low, mean, precipitation and snowfall.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain & snow | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −1.4°C | −9.1°C | −5.3°C | 73 mm | 44 cm |
| February | −0.9°C | −9.2°C | −5.0°C | 53 mm | 24 cm |
| March | 4.7°C | −4.4°C | 0.2°C | 69 mm | 28 cm |
| April | 11.8°C | 1.3°C | 6.5°C | 81 mm | 5 cm |
| May | 18.9°C | 7.3°C | 13.1°C | 81 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 24.2°C | 12.8°C | 18.5°C | 78 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 26.6°C | 15.2°C | 20.9°C | 98 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 25.6°C | 14.5°C | 20.1°C | 67 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 21.7°C | 10.5°C | 16.1°C | 74 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 14.5°C | 4.8°C | 9.7°C | 84 mm | under 1 cm |
| November | 7.7°C | −0.2°C | 3.8°C | 78 mm | 9 cm |
| December | 1.5°C | −5.4°C | −1.9°C | 67 mm | 32 cm |
| Year | 12.9°C | 3.2°C | 8.1°C | 902 mm | 141 cm |
In March, anything from −24.6°C to 26.8°C
Bars run from each month’s record low to its record high over 1991–2020; January is the month whose average wanders most from year to year (±3.0°C around −5.3°C), June the one that wanders least (±1.1°C).
Where Highland’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the Canadian Climate Normals, 1991–2020, at Hamilton (the closest location with all twelve months of temperatures).
- Other locations: ECCC blanks a month that fails its completeness rule, so the precipitation or snowfall here comes from the next location with all twelve months.
- Comparisons: Canada’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ (no city totals, no reserves), each through its own nearest 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 Highland’s climate
How warm does Highland get in summer?
On a normal day in July the thermometer climbs to 26.6°C, the warmest of the year.
How cold does Highland get in winter?
At its coldest, in February, the normal low is −9.2°C.
How much rain and snow does Highland get?
A normal year brings 902 mm, snow included as water: July is wettest at 98 mm, February driest at 53 mm.
How long does snow stay on the ground?
Snow lies on the ground for about 82 days in a normal year.
Are these figures for Highland itself?
They are the normals for Hamilton, measured just outside Highland itself.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Highland →
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).