Afternoon heat in Vars beats that of 86% of Canadian towns
The depth of winter brings overnight lows near −14.3°C. From frozen January to warm July, readings climb 41°C. Winter nights are cold: in January they are colder than in 61% of Canadian towns. Wet days, with 1 mm of rain or snow or more, come about 118 times a year.
These are not Vars’s own readings: ECCC keeps no normals there, so the page uses Ottawa (Airport), 26 km west.
A year in Vars at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Vars’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Ontario beside it.
What a year in Vars feels like
Each season’s and each month’s usual high and low, 1991–2020.
Frost on 154 days, 20°C on 120
From October to April frost is routine, and in January it comes on almost every night. Some 16 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
About 930 mm of rain and snow a year
June is the wettest month and February the driest.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
Snowfall: about 232 cm in a normal year
The snow season runs October to April; January brings the most, about 59 cm.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
Heating a home in Vars
93% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to April.
Think of it as a year’s worth of daily shortfalls below 18°C, added up.
Living with Vars’s climate
The averages read for the garden, the outdoors and the coldest and hottest days.
A normal year gives the garden about 160 frost-free days, roughly 29 April to 7 October.
Afternoons of 17–27°C and nights of at least 8°C arrive in Jun, Jul, Aug and Sep.
Parks & trails →A wind chill below −20 is part of about 47 days a year here.
About 49 days a year turn sultry, with the humidex past 30.
For blizzards, floods and wildfire, turn to Vars’s hazards page.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Ottawa (Airport)
ECCC builds the Ottawa (Airport) normals from 2 stations’ records over 1991–2020, joined where one replaced another.
| Distance from the town | 26 km west |
| Station altitude | 114 m |
| Completeness | at least 25 years |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −33.1°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 36.9°C |
| Average wind | 13.5 km/h on average, most often from the west |
| Next-nearest location | Angers, 26 km |
How Vars 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 Ontario.
Nearby towns’ climate
The nearest places on a normals location of their own: those that share Vars’s would only repeat its figures.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vars Ottawa (Airport) | 27.0°C | −14.3°C | 930 mm |
| Navan - Sarsfield 8.5 km · Angers | 26.2°C 0.8°C cooler | −16.5°C 2.2°C colder | 930 mm |
| Embrun 11 km · Ottawa (Airport) | 27.0°C about the same | −14.3°C about the same | 930 mm |
Vars weather by month
Each month’s normals, 1991–2020: high, low, mean, precipitation and snowfall.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain & snow | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −5.5°C | −14.3°C | −10.0°C | 70 mm | 59 cm |
| February | −3.6°C | −13.2°C | −8.5°C | 50 mm | 49 cm |
| March | 2.4°C | −7.1°C | −2.4°C | 66 mm | 39 cm |
| April | 11.3°C | 0.5°C | 5.9°C | 81 mm | 12 cm |
| May | 19.6°C | 7.5°C | 13.6°C | 75 mm | under 1 cm |
| June | 24.4°C | 12.9°C | 18.7°C | 97 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 27.0°C | 15.4°C | 21.2°C | 89 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 25.8°C | 14.3°C | 20.1°C | 79 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 21.0°C | 9.6°C | 15.3°C | 90 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 13.0°C | 3.4°C | 8.2°C | 87 mm | 3 cm |
| November | 5.8°C | −2.4°C | 1.7°C | 74 mm | 21 cm |
| December | −1.9°C | −9.6°C | −5.8°C | 72 mm | 50 cm |
| Year | 11.6°C | 1.4°C | 6.5°C | 930 mm | 232 cm |
The most changeable month: January, give or take 3.2°C; the steadiest, August
Over 1991–2020, March saw both −29.0°C (2003) and 27.4°C (2012), the widest span of any month.
Where Vars’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the closest ECCC location with twelve months of temperature normals, Ottawa (Airport), 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 (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 Vars’s climate
How warm does Vars get in summer?
Peak warmth comes in July, at about 27.0°C by mid-afternoon.
How cold does Vars get in winter?
Lows sink to −14.3°C on an average January night.
How much rain and snow does Vars get?
Rain and snow add up to about 930 mm of water a year; June brings the most (97 mm), February the least (50 mm).
How long does snow stay on the ground?
About 118 days a year count as snow-covered, with 1 cm or more.
Are these figures for Vars itself?
No, the station behind them is Ottawa (Airport), beyond Vars’s boundary.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Vars →
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).