Photo: Northern Lights Graffiti from Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada · CC BY 2.0Few Canadian towns get more snow than Owen Sound: about 385 cm a year
January mornings start at about −9.9°C. Rain and snow together come to more here than on 80% of Canadian towns. Expect the most rain and snow in January and the least in March. Windshields need scraping on about 148 mornings a year, the days the air reaches 0°C or below.
These are not Owen Sound’s own readings: ECCC keeps no normals there, so the page uses Wiarton, 23 km north-west.
A year in Owen Sound at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Owen Sound’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Ontario beside it.
What a year in Owen Sound feels like
Each season’s and each month’s usual high and low, 1991–2020.
About 148 frosts and 102 warm days a year
From October to May frost is routine, and in January it comes on almost every night. Deep cold, under −20°C, comes on about 6 nights a year.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
1,074 mm of precipitation in a typical year
On about 147 days a year, 1 mm or more falls.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
Snowfall: about 385 cm in a normal year
Expect snow from October to April, with about 111 cm in January, the snowiest month. The snowiest of 854 towns of 2,500+ in Ontario.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
Heating a home in Owen Sound
89% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October 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 66% of Canadian towns.
Living with Owen Sound’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 12 May, has passed; autumn’s first, near 10 October, ends a season of about 151 days.
The outdoor season by the averages is Jun, Jul, Aug and Sep, with highs of 17–27°C and lows of 8°C or more.
Parks & trails →A wind chill below −20 is part of about 24 days a year here.
A humidex above 30 marks about 36 days in a normal year.
Thirty years of averages say little about one bad storm; Owen Sound’s hazards page does.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Wiarton
Wiarton is a composite: ECCC joins 2 stations’ readings to make its 1991–2020 normals.
| Distance from the town | 23 km north-west |
| Station altitude | 222 m |
| Completeness | at least 25 years |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −34.3°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 34.2°C |
| Average wind | 13.1 km/h on average, most often from the west |
| Next-nearest location | Collingwood, 58 km |
How Owen Sound 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
Nearby places read from a different ECCC location (places on Owen Sound’s own would show the same figures). The nearest places to Owen Sound with figures are 21–47 km away.
Owen Sound weather by month
Each month’s normals, 1991–2020: high, low, mean, precipitation and snowfall.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain & snow | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −2.2°C | −9.9°C | −6.1°C | 111 mm | 111 cm |
| February | −1.7°C | −10.2°C | −6.0°C | 77 mm | 74 cm |
| March | 2.7°C | −6.2°C | −1.8°C | 66 mm | 38 cm |
| April | 10.0°C | 0.1°C | 5.0°C | 84 mm | 18 cm |
| May | 16.9°C | 5.5°C | 11.2°C | 82 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 21.8°C | 10.5°C | 16.2°C | 79 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 24.3°C | 13.6°C | 18.9°C | 70 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 23.6°C | 13.1°C | 18.3°C | 83 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 20.1°C | 9.5°C | 14.8°C | 99 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 13.2°C | 4.6°C | 8.9°C | 110 mm | 5 cm |
| November | 6.5°C | −0.5°C | 3.0°C | 110 mm | 48 cm |
| December | 1.0°C | −5.3°C | −2.2°C | 104 mm | 92 cm |
| Year | 11.3°C | 2.1°C | 6.7°C | 1,074 mm | 385 cm |
January varies most from one year to the next (3.0°C), August least
March has the widest record range, −30.5°C in 2003 to 27.2°C in 2012; the tick on each bar is the month’s normal.
Where Owen Sound’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the 1991–2020 normals from ECCC for Wiarton, its nearest location with complete temperatures.
- 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 Owen Sound’s climate
How warm does Owen Sound get in summer?
Midsummer means July, with afternoons near 24.3°C on a typical day.
How cold does Owen Sound get in winter?
The coldest nights come in February, averaging −10.2°C.
How much rain and snow does Owen Sound get?
January is the wettest month at 111 mm and March the driest at 66 mm, for 1,074 mm over the year.
How long does snow stay on the ground?
Snow cover of 1 cm or more lasts about 112 days in a typical year.
Are these figures for Owen Sound itself?
Not quite: they come from Wiarton, the closest ECCC normals location to Owen Sound.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Owen Sound →
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).