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Red Lake Main Street 1936 (page 1 crop)Photo: Karl Brooks Heisey died December 7, 1937 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Climate in Red Lake · ECCC 1991–2020 normals

Red Lake sits near the bottom of Canadian towns for winter warmth

Midsummer highs settle at about 24.0°C. Some 48°C separates winter nights from summer afternoons. By July afternoons alone, it runs cooler than 70% of Canadian towns. An umbrella or a shovel earns its place on about 108 days a year with 1 mm or more.

July afternoons: cooler than 70% of Canadian towns
January nights: colder than almost every Canadian town
Rain and snow a year: drier than 67% of Canadian towns

Measured at Red Lake, 6.4 km north: ECCC’s normals for 1991–2020.

A year in Red Lake at a glance

Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.

Jan−13°C−24°CColdest nights
Feb−8°C−21°C
Mar−1°C−13°C
Apr8°C−5°C
May16°C3°CLast frost ~28 May
Jun22°C9°C
Jul24°C12°CWarmestWettest
Aug23°C12°C
Sep17°C6°CFirst frost ~20 Sep
Oct8°C0°C
Nov now−2°C−9°CSnowiest
Dec−10°C−19°C

What stands out about Red Lake’s climate

Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Ontario beside it.

A normal year

What a year in Red Lake feels like

Seasons and months as ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals give them: a typical day’s high and low.

Winter
−10°C / −21°C
75 mm, with 102 cm of snow
Spring
8°C / −5°C
148 mm, with 57 cm of snow
Summer
23°C / 11°C
303 mm of rain and snow, the wettest season
Autumn
8°C / −1°C
197 mm, with 71 cm of snow
Best months to be outsideJunJulAugHighs of 17–27°C and nights of 8°C or more
Frost & warm days

Frost on 203 days, 20°C on 85

The frost season runs September to May, and January freezes nearly every night. Some 62 nights a year drop under −20°C.

203
Frost days a year (0°C or below)
More frosts than 92% of Canadian towns
124
Days that stay below 0°C
62
Nights a year below −20°C
85
Days a year above 20°C
4
Days a year above 30°C

Frost days by month

Average days at 0°C or below

31
JFMAMJJASOND

Days above 20°C by month

Average days

26
JFMAMJJASOND
Rain & snow

About 722 mm of rain and snow a year

July brings the most rain and snow; February, the least. 871st wettest of 871 towns of 2,500+ in Ontario.

722 mm
Rain and snow a year
Drier than 67% of Canadian towns
541 mm
Of it as rain alone (75%)
112 mm
July, the wettest month
16 mm
February, the driest month

Rain and snow by month

Millimetres

112 mm
JFMAMJJASOND

Rain alone by month

Millimetres

112 mm
JFMAMJJASOND
Snow

230 cm of snow in a typical year

Snow falls from September to May, most of all in November (about 45 cm).

230 cm
Snowfall a year
Snowier than 85% of Canadian towns
86
Days a year with 0.2 cm of snow or more
163
Days a year with 1 cm or more on the ground
44 cm
Snow on the ground at the end of January, the deepest month

Snowfall by month

Centimetres

45 cm
JFMAMJJASOND

Snow on the ground by month

Centimetres at month’s end

44 cm
JFMAMJJASOND
Heating

Heating a home in Red Lake

89% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to May.

6,143 heating degree days (below 18°C)a year, 1991–2020
1,512 growing degree days (above 5°C)a year, 1991–2020

A heating degree day is one degree of shortfall below 18°C for one day, summed over the year. A house here needs more heating than almost every Canadian town.

Living here

Living with Red Lake’s climate

Gardening, time outside, winter cold and summer heat, from the 1991–2020 normals.

The garden window

Tender plants are usually safe from around 28 May until frost returns near 20 September: about 114 days.

Get outside

Afternoons of 17–27°C and nights of at least 8°C arrive in Jun, Jul and Aug.

Parks & trails →
Storms and extremes

A normal year has no blizzard, flood or heat wave in it; Red Lake’s hazards page looks at those.

Flood & hazards →
Weather station

ECCC’s normals location: Red Lake

Behind the 1991–2020 normals for Red Lake are 3 stations, which ECCC combines into one record.

Distance from the town6.4 km north
Station altitude386 m
Completenessat least 25 years
WMO standard normalsNo
Coldest reading, 1991–2020−45.7°C
Hottest reading, 1991–202036.7°C
Average wind11.2 km/h on average, most often from the west
Next-nearest locationKenora, 142 km
Compared with other towns

How Red Lake compares

Compared with 2,611 towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more across Canada; the dots mark the other normals locations in Ontario.

July afternoons24.0°C
Red LakeMedian Canadian town
20°C22°C24°C26°C28°C30°C
Cooler than 70% of Canadian towns
January nights−23.5°C
Red LakeMedian Canadian town
−25°C−20°C−15°C−10°C−5°C
Colder than almost every Canadian town869th mildest of 871 towns of 2,500+ in Ontario
Rain and snow a year722 mm
Red LakeMedian Canadian town
05001,0001,5002,000
Drier than 67% of Canadian towns871st wettest of 871 towns of 2,500+ in Ontario
Snowfall a year230 cm
Red LakeMedian Canadian town
0100200300400
Snowier than 85% of Canadian towns
Next door

Nearby towns’ climate

Places around Red Lake whose figures come from another normals location. Red Lake has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 133–154 km out.

TownJuly highJanuary lowRain & snow
Red Lake24.0°C−23.5°C722 mm
Kenora, Unorganized 133 km · Kenora24.4°C about the same−20.1°C 3.4°C milder754 mm
Lac Seul 28 147 km · Sioux Lookout24.3°C about the same−22.3°C 1.2°C milder796 mm
Month by month

Red Lake weather by month

Each month’s normals, 1991–2020: high, low, mean, precipitation and snowfall.

MonthHighLowMeanRain & snowSnow
January−12.7°C−23.5°C−18.1°C26 mm36 cm
February−8.4°C−21.3°C−14.9°C16 mm22 cm
March−0.5°C−13.4°C−7.0°C29 mm28 cm
April7.9°C−4.7°C1.7°C37 mm21 cm
May15.8°C3.0°C9.4°C83 mm9 cm
June21.5°C9.3°C15.4°C98 mmunder 1 cm
July24.0°C12.4°C18.2°C112 mm0 cm
August22.7°C11.5°C17.1°C93 mm0 cm
September16.5°C6.4°C11.5°C84 mm1 cm
October7.6°C−0.3°C3.7°C69 mm25 cm
November−1.6°C−9.0°C−5.5°C44 mm45 cm
December−9.9°C−18.8°C−14.4°C32 mm44 cm
Year6.9°C−4.0°C1.4°C722 mm230 cm
Year to year

Two years in three, December’s average lands within 3.9°C of normal, against the steadier August

March has the widest record range, −39.6°C in 2003 to 23.2°C in 2012; the tick on each bar is the month’s normal.

Record low to record high, 1991–2020Normal
Sources

Where Red Lake’s numbers come from

Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.

  • Normals: 1991–2020 normals for Red Lake from ECCC’s climate data site, the nearest location with every month of temperature.
  • 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, 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 Red Lake’s climate

How warm does Red Lake get in summer?

Midsummer means July, with afternoons near 24.0°C on a typical day.

How cold does Red Lake get in winter?

The coldest nights come in January, averaging −23.5°C.

How much rain and snow does Red Lake get?

About 722 mm a year, rain and melted snow together. July is the wettest month (112 mm) and February the driest (16 mm).

How long does snow stay on the ground?

Around 163 days a year see 1 cm of snow or more lying.

Are these figures for Red Lake itself?

They are: the normals station that gives them stands in Red Lake.

Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Red Lake →

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).