La Cité has warmer summer afternoons than 78% of Canadian towns
January mornings start at about −14.0°C. Precipitation is plentiful here, more than falls on 60% of Canadian towns. Expect the most rain and snow in June and the least in February. Homes need heating from October to April, the months averaging under 10°C.
The nearest ECCC normals location to La Cité is Ottawa (City), 12 km south, and every figure on this page is its.
A year in La Cité at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about La Cité’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Quebec beside it.
What a year in La Cité feels like
Each season’s and each month’s usual high and low, 1991–2020.
Frost on 147 days, 20°C on 121
Frost comes from October to April; in January almost every night freezes. Deep cold, under −20°C, comes on about 15 nights a year.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
About 938 mm of rain and snow a year
On about 120 days a year, 1 mm or more falls.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
About 185 cm of snow a year
Expect snow from October to April, with about 45 cm in January, the snowiest month.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
Heating a home in La Cité
93% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to April.
ECCC sums, over the year, how many degrees each day’s average falls short of 18°C.
Living with La Cité’s climate
Gardening, time outside, winter cold and summer heat, from the 1991–2020 normals.
Plant out after about 30 April; the first frost of autumn usually arrives near 6 October, leaving roughly 158 days without frost.
The outdoor season by the averages is May, Jun, Jul, Aug and Sep, with highs of 17–27°C and lows of 8°C or more.
Parks & trails →About 39 days a year bring a wind chill under −20, when bare skin chills fast.
Count on some 50 humid days a year with the humidex past 30.
What averages leave out, the floods and ice storms, is on La Cité’s hazards page.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Ottawa (City)
Ottawa (City) is a composite: ECCC joins 2 stations’ readings to make its 1991–2020 normals.
| Distance from the town | 12 km south |
| Station altitude | 79 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | Yes |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −32.2°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 37.3°C |
| Average wind | 11.5 km/h on average, most often from the west |
| Next-nearest location | Angers, 13 km |
How La Cité 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 Quebec.
Nearby towns’ climate
Places around La Cité whose figures come from another normals location.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| La Cité Ottawa (City) | 26.7°C | −14.0°C | 938 mm |
| Rivière-Gatineau 2.6 km · Ottawa (City) | 26.7°C about the same | −14.0°C about the same | 938 mm |
| Du Moulin 3.5 km · Angers | 26.2°C 0.5°C cooler | −16.5°C 2.5°C colder | 938 mm |
La Cité 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 | −5.2°C | −14.0°C | −9.6°C | 65 mm | 45 cm |
| February | −3.3°C | −12.9°C | −8.1°C | 52 mm | 41 cm |
| March | 2.5°C | −6.9°C | −2.2°C | 62 mm | 31 cm |
| April | 11.2°C | 1.1°C | 6.2°C | 81 mm | 8 cm |
| May | 19.4°C | 8.0°C | 13.8°C | 80 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 24.2°C | 13.3°C | 18.8°C | 95 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 26.7°C | 15.8°C | 21.3°C | 92 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 25.6°C | 14.6°C | 20.1°C | 87 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 21.1°C | 10.1°C | 15.6°C | 87 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 13.3°C | 4.1°C | 8.8°C | 90 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 5.8°C | −1.8°C | 2.0°C | 72 mm | 16 cm |
| December | −1.5°C | −8.7°C | −5.1°C | 74 mm | 43 cm |
| Year | 11.7°C | 1.9°C | 6.8°C | 938 mm | 185 cm |
March: −28.5°C at its coldest, 26.5°C at its warmest
The month to count on least is January: one year in three its average strays more than 3.1°C from −9.6°C. June moves least, typically by 1.1°C.
Where La Cité’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the 1991–2020 normals from ECCC for Ottawa (City), its nearest location with complete temperatures.
- Comparisons: the towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ across Canada, each on its nearest normals location, without the city totals or the reserves.
- 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 La Cité’s climate
How warm does La Cité get in summer?
The year’s warmest days come in July, with highs averaging 26.7°C.
How cold does La Cité get in winter?
Deep winter means January, when nights average −14.0°C.
How much rain and snow does La Cité get?
Around 938 mm a year in all, from 95 mm in June down to 52 mm in February.
How long does snow stay on the ground?
A layer of at least 1 cm stays down on about 115 days a year.
Are these figures for La Cité itself?
Not quite: they come from Ottawa (City), the closest ECCC normals location to La Cité.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for La Cité →
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).