Photo: Joe Mabel (on Flickr as Joe Mabel from Seattle, US) · CC BY-SA 3.0Frosty mornings in Pickering are scarcer than in 84% of Canadian towns
In July the day’s top temperature is typically 25.7°C. Rain or snow is most frequent in June and least in February. Picnics, hikes and garden evenings come into their own from June to September, with highs of 21–26°C.
The nearest ECCC normals location to Pickering is Oshawa, 20 km north-east, and every figure on this page is its.
A year in Pickering at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Pickering’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Ontario beside it.
What a year in Pickering feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals.
130 frost days and 107 days above 20°C a year
From October to April frost is routine, and in January it comes on almost every night. Some 4 days a year climb past 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 906 mm a year
On about 115 days a year, 1 mm or more falls.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
Snowfall: about 102 cm in a normal year
From November to April snow is likely; January is the peak, at about 34 cm.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
Heating a home in Pickering
92% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to April.
The total grows by a degree for every degree a day’s mean sits under 18°C. By this count, homes here need less heating than 81% of Canadian towns.
Living with Pickering’s climate
What the normals mean for a garden, a day outside and the depth of winter.
A normal year gives the garden about 167 frost-free days, roughly 30 April to 15 October.
Afternoons of 17–27°C and nights of at least 8°C arrive in Jun, Jul, Aug and Sep.
Parks & trails →Storms, floods and heat waves sit outside these normals; Pickering’s hazards page covers them.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Oshawa
Oshawa is a composite: ECCC joins 2 stations’ readings to make its 1991–2020 normals.
| Distance from the town | 20 km north-east |
| Station altitude | 140 m |
| Completeness | at least 20 years |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −28.0°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 37.1°C |
| Next-nearest location | Toronto Buttonville (Airport), 21 km |
How Pickering 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 Pickering whose figures come from another normals location.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pickering Oshawa | 25.7°C | −8.9°C | 906 mm |
| West Rouge 5.9 km · Toronto Buttonville (Airport) | 27.3°C 1.6°C warmer | −10.1°C 1.2°C colder | 862 mm |
| Ajax 6.6 km · Oshawa | 25.7°C about the same | −8.9°C about the same | 906 mm |
Pickering weather by month
Month by month, 1991–2020: the usual high, low and mean, the rain and snow, and the snowfall.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain & snow | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −1.1°C | −8.9°C | −5.0°C | 75 mm | 34 cm |
| February | −0.2°C | −8.3°C | −4.2°C | 54 mm | 26 cm |
| March | 4.5°C | −3.9°C | 0.3°C | 54 mm | 11 cm |
| April | 10.6°C | 1.7°C | 6.2°C | 87 mm | 2 cm |
| May | 17.5°C | 7.6°C | 12.6°C | 85 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 22.7°C | 12.9°C | 17.8°C | 94 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 25.7°C | 15.8°C | 20.9°C | 86 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 24.8°C | 15.4°C | 20.1°C | 74 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 20.9°C | 11.4°C | 16.2°C | 86 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 13.6°C | 5.3°C | 9.5°C | 72 mm | under 1 cm |
| November | 7.5°C | 0.3°C | 3.9°C | 73 mm | 5 cm |
| December | 2.2°C | −4.6°C | −1.2°C | 68 mm | 25 cm |
| Year | 12.4°C | 3.7°C | 8.1°C | 906 mm | 102 cm |
The most changeable month: February, give or take 3.0°C; the steadiest, October
Records from 1991 to 2020: no month spans more than March, between −25.2°C (2015) and 23.3°C (2012).
Where Pickering’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: ECCC’s normals for Oshawa, 1991–2020, chosen as the nearest location with a full temperature record.
- Comparisons: all Canadian places of 2,500 or more except city totals and reserves, each read the same way.
- 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 Pickering’s climate
How warm does Pickering get in summer?
The year’s warmest days come in July, with highs averaging 25.7°C.
How cold does Pickering get in winter?
Deep winter means January, when nights average −8.9°C.
How much rain and snow does Pickering get?
The yearly total is about 906 mm. June gets 94 mm, the most of any month; February gets 54 mm, the least.
How long does snow stay on the ground?
A layer of at least 1 cm stays down on about 55 days a year.
Are these figures for Pickering itself?
Not quite: they come from Oshawa, the closest ECCC normals location to Pickering.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Pickering →
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).