Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Bristol has colder winter nights than 81% of Canadian towns
Expect July afternoons of about 26.4°C. The seasons are far apart: from a winter night to a summer afternoon the average spans 43°C. It is a wet place: more rain and snow fall here than on 67% of Canadian towns. About 137 days a year bring 1 mm of precipitation or more.
Bristol has no ECCC normals station of its own: every figure here comes from Charteris, 18 km north.
A year in Bristol at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Bristol’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Quebec beside it.
What a year in Bristol feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals.
178 frost days and 115 days above 20°C a year
The frost season runs September to May, and January freezes nearly every night. On about 31 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
About 968 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
Precipitation and snowfall: Luskville, 28 km away (Charteris records no complete year of either).
About 193 cm of snow a year
Snow falls from October to April, most of all in January (about 53 cm).
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
Heating a home in Bristol
91% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to April.
Measured against 18°C: each day’s shortfall in mean temperature, added over twelve months. Homes here need more heating than 61% of Canadian towns.
Living with Bristol’s climate
What the normals mean for a garden, a day outside and the depth of winter.
Seedlings can go out once the average last frost, around 23 May, has passed; autumn’s first, near 19 September, ends a season of about 118 days.
Afternoons of 17–27°C and nights of at least 8°C arrive in Jun, Jul and Aug.
Parks & trails →Storms, floods and heat waves sit outside these normals; Bristol’s hazards page covers them.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Charteris
Charteris is one of the 450 places where ECCC publishes 1991–2020 normals.
| Distance from the town | 18 km north |
| Station altitude | 168 m |
| Completeness | at least 20 years |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Precipitation from | Luskville, 28 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −39.5°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 36.5°C |
| Next-nearest location | Luskville, 28 km |
How Bristol compares
Compared with 2,611 towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more across Canada; the dots mark the other normals locations in Quebec.
Nearby towns’ climate
The nearest places on a normals location of their own: those that share Bristol’s would only repeat its figures. Bristol has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 10–38 km out.
Bristol weather by month
Average daily high and low, mean temperature, rain and snow (as water) and snowfall by month, 1991–2020.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain & snow | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −6.2°C | −16.9°C | −11.6°C | 77 mm | 53 cm |
| February | −4.2°C | −16.1°C | −10.2°C | 63 mm | 43 cm |
| March | 2.2°C | −9.5°C | −3.7°C | 63 mm | 31 cm |
| April | 10.8°C | −1.2°C | 5.1°C | 74 mm | 6 cm |
| May | 19.3°C | 5.5°C | 12.5°C | 79 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 23.9°C | 10.6°C | 17.4°C | 99 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 26.4°C | 13.1°C | 19.6°C | 97 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 25.1°C | 12.2°C | 18.6°C | 96 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 20.4°C | 7.9°C | 14.3°C | 87 mm | 1 cm |
| October | 12.4°C | 2.3°C | 7.5°C | 84 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 4.8°C | −3.8°C | 0.7°C | 74 mm | 16 cm |
| December | −2.6°C | −11.3°C | −7.0°C | 76 mm | 43 cm |
| Year | 11.0°C | −0.6°C | 5.3°C | 968 mm | 193 cm |
January varies most from one year to the next (3.4°C), August least
Over 1991–2020, March saw both −35.0°C (2007) and 27.5°C (2012), the widest span of any month.
Where Bristol’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: 1991–2020 normals for Charteris from ECCC’s climate data site, the nearest location with every month of temperature.
- Other locations: a location missing months of precipitation or snow is filled from the nearest that has them all, never mixed month by month.
- Comparisons: Canada’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ (no city totals, no reserves), each through its own nearest location.
- Not on this page: a sunshine figure (ECCC published none for 1991–2020) and any lapse-rate correction for height, as the town has no elevation here.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Bristol’s climate
How warm does Bristol get in summer?
The year’s warmest days come in July, with highs averaging 26.4°C.
How cold does Bristol get in winter?
January nights average −16.9°C, the coldest of the year.
How much rain and snow does Bristol get?
Over twelve months, rain and melted snow come to 968 mm; the range runs from 63 mm in February to 99 mm in June.
How long does snow stay on the ground?
Count on about 127 days of snow cover a year, 1 cm or deeper.
Are these figures for Bristol itself?
No: Bristol has no normals location, so the figures come from Charteris, the nearest with 1991–2020 normals.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Bristol →
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).