Neither notably warm, cold, wet nor dry, Laurentian West sits near the middle of Canadian towns
A typical July afternoon reaches 26.6°C, a January night drops to −10.3°C, and 851 mm of rain and snow falls in a year. A year here swings 37°C from midwinter lows to midsummer highs. Its July heat outdoes that of 70% of Canadian towns. Homes need heating from October to April, the months averaging under 10°C.
Read at Kitchener/Waterloo, 12 km north-east: ECCC’s normals for 1991–2020.
A year in Laurentian West at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Laurentian West’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Ontario beside it.
What a year in Laurentian West feels like
Seasons and months as ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals give them: a typical day’s high and low.
156 frost days and 122 days above 20°C a year
From October to May frost is routine, and in January it comes on almost every night. On about 7 nights a year the air falls below −20°C.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
851 mm of precipitation in a typical year
The most falls in July, the least in February. About 115 days a year bring 1 mm or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Snowfall: about 115 cm in a normal year
Expect snow from November to April, with about 32 cm in January, the snowiest month.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Kitchener/Waterloo publishes no full year of snowfall, so these figures come from Toronto Pearson (Airport), 78 km away.
Heating a home in Laurentian West
91% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to April.
One degree below 18°C for one day makes one heating degree day; the year’s days are added together. In heating terms, homes need less heating than 69% of Canadian towns.
Living with Laurentian West’s climate
What the normals mean for a garden, a day outside and the depth of winter.
The growing season between frosts lasts about 149 days, roughly 8 May to 5 October.
Plan time outside for Jun, Jul, Aug and Sep: highs of 17–27°C and nights no colder than 8°C.
Parks & trails →Thirty-year normals hide the storms and the extremes: the hazards page has Laurentian West’s risks.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Kitchener/Waterloo
Kitchener/Waterloo is a composite: ECCC joins 3 stations’ readings to make its 1991–2020 normals.
| Distance from the town | 12 km north-east |
| Station altitude | 322 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Snowfall from | Toronto Pearson (Airport), 78 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −34.1°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 36.5°C |
| Average wind | 13.8 km/h on average, most often from the west |
| Next-nearest location | Elora, 28 km |
How Laurentian West 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
Nearby places read from a different ECCC location (places on Laurentian West’s own would show the same figures). Laurentian West has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 16–30 km out.
Laurentian West weather by month
Each month’s normals, 1991–2020: high, low, mean, precipitation and snowfall.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain & snow | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −2.3°C | −10.3°C | −6.3°C | 66 mm | 32 cm |
| February | −1.4°C | −10.3°C | −5.9°C | 46 mm | 28 cm |
| March | 4.1°C | −5.6°C | −0.8°C | 57 mm | 17 cm |
| April | 11.6°C | 0.1°C | 5.9°C | 81 mm | 5 cm |
| May | 19.0°C | 6.2°C | 12.6°C | 80 mm | under 1 cm |
| June | 24.1°C | 11.5°C | 17.8°C | 81 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 26.6°C | 13.7°C | 20.2°C | 96 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 25.5°C | 12.7°C | 19.1°C | 67 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 21.6°C | 8.7°C | 15.2°C | 75 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 14.1°C | 3.4°C | 8.8°C | 71 mm | under 1 cm |
| November | 6.8°C | −1.6°C | 2.6°C | 75 mm | 9 cm |
| December | 0.7°C | −6.3°C | −2.8°C | 55 mm | 24 cm |
| Year | 12.5°C | 1.9°C | 7.2°C | 851 mm | 115 cm |
A March here can run from −29.4°C to 26.5°C
Bars run from each month’s record low to its record high over 1991–2020; February is the month whose average wanders most from year to year (±3.1°C around −5.9°C), June the one that wanders least (±1.1°C).
Where Laurentian West’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the Canadian Climate Normals, 1991–2020, at Kitchener/Waterloo (the closest location with all twelve months of temperatures).
- Other locations: precipitation and snowfall come from the nearest location that publishes all twelve months of them, as named above.
- Comparisons: a pool of Canadian towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, read alike; whole cities and reserves stay out of it.
- Not on this page: sunshine, which none of ECCC’s 450 locations publishes for 1991–2020, and the town’s own height above sea level, so no figure is adjusted for altitude.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Laurentian West’s climate
How warm does Laurentian West get in summer?
Afternoons average 26.6°C in July, the warmest time of year.
How cold does Laurentian West get in winter?
At its coldest, in January, the normal low is −10.3°C.
How much rain and snow does Laurentian West get?
A normal year brings 851 mm, snow included as water: July is wettest at 96 mm, February driest at 46 mm.
Are these figures for Laurentian West itself?
Close to it: they are ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals for Kitchener/Waterloo, just outside Laurentian West’s boundary.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Laurentian West →
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).