Photo: Veillg1 · CC BY-SA 4.0More rain and snow fall on Richelieu than on 74% of Canadian towns: 1,041 mm a year
The coldest hours of a January night bottom out at −13.6°C on average. In July, afternoons here are warmer than in 70% of Canadian towns. October is the wettest month, February the driest. Windshields need scraping on about 149 mornings a year, the days the air reaches 0°C or below.
Richelieu has no ECCC normals station of its own: every figure here comes from L'Acadie, 18 km south-west.
A year in Richelieu at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Richelieu’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Quebec beside it.
What a year in Richelieu feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals.
Frost on 149 days, 20°C on 124
From October to April frost is routine, and in January it comes on almost every night. 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 1,041 mm of rain and snow a year
Some 122 days a year see 1 mm of rain or snow or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
L'Acadie publishes no full year of precipitation or snowfall, so these figures, and the snow below, come from Montréal Trudeau (Airport), 40 km away.
About 217 cm of snow a year
Expect snow from October to April, with about 52 cm in January, the snowiest month.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Heating a home in Richelieu
93% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to April.
One degree below 18°C for one day makes one heating degree day; the year’s days are added together.
Living with Richelieu’s climate
Gardening, time outside, winter cold and summer heat, from the 1991–2020 normals.
The comfortable months for a day outside, highs of 17–27°C and nights of 8°C or more: Jun, Jul, Aug and Sep.
Parks & trails →Plan for about 36 days a year with a wind chill below −20.
Humid summer days, the humidex above 30, number about 50 a year.
Bad-weather days, from blizzards to floods, get their own page for Richelieu: the hazards page.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: L'Acadie
The page’s figures are ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals for L'Acadie, one of its 450 normals locations.
| Distance from the town | 18 km south-west |
| Station altitude | 44 m |
| Completeness | at least 20 years |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Precipitation from | Montréal Trudeau (Airport), 40 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −32.5°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 36.1°C |
| Average wind | 11.4 km/h on average, most often from the west |
| Next-nearest location | Montréal Trudeau (Airport), 40 km |
How Richelieu 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 Richelieu’s would only repeat its figures. Distances here run 15–18 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Richelieu.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Richelieu L'Acadie | 26.6°C | −13.6°C | 1,041 mm |
| Rougemont 15 km · Granby | 25.6°C 1.0°C cooler | −13.4°C about the same | 1,226 mm |
| Mont-Saint-Hilaire 15 km · Fleury | 26.0°C 0.6°C cooler | −14.8°C 1.2°C colder | 1,109 mm |
| Saint-Mathieu-de-Beloeil 18 km · L'Assomption | 26.6°C about the same | −16.0°C 2.4°C colder | 1,109 mm |
Richelieu 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 | −4.3°C | −13.6°C | −9.0°C | 86 mm | 52 cm |
| February | −2.9°C | −12.7°C | −7.8°C | 66 mm | 47 cm |
| March | 2.6°C | −6.7°C | −2.1°C | 77 mm | 37 cm |
| April | 11.1°C | 0.7°C | 5.9°C | 90 mm | 15 cm |
| May | 19.5°C | 7.8°C | 13.7°C | 86 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 24.2°C | 13.2°C | 18.7°C | 84 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 26.6°C | 15.5°C | 21.1°C | 91 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 25.3°C | 13.9°C | 19.6°C | 94 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 21.4°C | 9.7°C | 15.6°C | 89 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 13.6°C | 4.1°C | 8.9°C | 103 mm | 1 cm |
| November | 6.1°C | −1.7°C | 2.2°C | 84 mm | 16 cm |
| December | −0.7°C | −8.6°C | −4.7°C | 92 mm | 48 cm |
| Year | 11.9°C | 1.8°C | 6.8°C | 1,041 mm | 217 cm |
A January here can run warm or cold, its average moving by about 2.9°C; the steadiest month is August
Records from 1991 to 2020: no month spans more than March, between −28.7°C (2003) and 25.4°C (2012).
Where Richelieu’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the Canadian Climate Normals, 1991–2020, at L'Acadie (the closest location with all twelve months of temperatures).
- Other locations: ECCC blanks a month that fails its completeness rule, so the precipitation or snowfall here comes from the next location with all twelve months.
- 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: hours of sunshine, missing from the 1991–2020 normals, and a height correction: the town has no elevation on file.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Richelieu’s climate
How warm does Richelieu get in summer?
The warmest month is July, when afternoons average 26.6°C.
How cold does Richelieu get in winter?
In January, the coldest month, the typical low is −13.6°C.
How much rain and snow does Richelieu get?
Rain and snow, with snow counted as water, total 1,041 mm a year; October leads with 103 mm and February trails with 66 mm.
Are these figures for Richelieu itself?
No: Richelieu has no normals location, so the figures come from L'Acadie, the nearest with 1991–2020 normals.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Richelieu →
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).