Photo: Roncanada · CC BY 4.0Thurso has colder winter nights than 78% of Canadian towns
Peak summer warmth arrives in July, with afternoons near 26.2°C. In July, afternoons here are warmer than in 62% of Canadian towns. Expect the most rain and snow in June and the least in February. About 120 days a year bring 1 mm of precipitation or more.
No ECCC station in Thurso has 1991–2020 normals; the page reads Angers, 25 km west, instead.
A year in Thurso at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Thurso’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Quebec beside it.
What a year in Thurso feels like
Each season’s and each month’s usual high and low, 1991–2020.
179 frost days and 112 days above 20°C a year
The frost season runs September to May, and January freezes nearly every night. Deep cold, under −20°C, comes on about 29 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
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
Precipitation and snowfall: Ottawa (City), 45 km away (Angers records no complete year of either).
About 185 cm of snow a year
The snow season runs October to April; January brings the most, about 45 cm.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
Heating a home in Thurso
91% 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. That means homes here need more heating than 60% of Canadian towns.
Living with Thurso’s climate
What the normals mean for a garden, a day outside and the depth of winter.
Gardens get from about 26 May to 22 September without frost, around 119 days in all.
Afternoons of 17–27°C and nights of at least 8°C arrive in Jun, Jul, Aug and Sep.
Parks & trails →Extremes don’t show in averages: floods, wildfire smoke and ice storms are on Thurso’s hazards page.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Angers
The page’s figures are ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals for Angers, one of its 450 normals locations.
| Distance from the town | 25 km west |
| Station altitude | 91 m |
| Completeness | at least 20 years |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Precipitation from | Ottawa (City), 45 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −39.0°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 36.0°C |
| Next-nearest location | Ottawa (City), 45 km |
How Thurso compares
Placed among 2,611 Canadian towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+, each on its nearest normals location; each dot is another location used in Quebec.
Nearby towns’ climate
Places around Thurso whose figures come from another normals location. The nearest places to Thurso with figures are 34–45 km away.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thurso Angers | 26.2°C | −16.5°C | 938 mm |
| Casselman 34 km · Cornwall | 27.3°C 1.1°C warmer | −11.8°C 4.7°C milder | 1,006 mm |
| Lac-Simon 36 km · St-Jovite | 25.3°C 0.9°C cooler | −18.3°C 1.8°C colder | 1,178 mm |
| Embrun 37 km · Ottawa (Airport) | 27.0°C 0.8°C warmer | −14.3°C 2.2°C milder | 930 mm |
| Gatineau 39 km · Ottawa (City) | 26.7°C 0.5°C warmer | −14.0°C 2.5°C milder | 938 mm |
| Vankleek Hill 45 km · Lachute | 26.5°C about the same | −14.7°C 1.8°C milder | 1,178 mm |
Thurso 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 | −5.6°C | −16.5°C | −11.2°C | 65 mm | 45 cm |
| February | −3.3°C | −15.5°C | −9.5°C | 52 mm | 41 cm |
| March | 2.3°C | −8.7°C | −3.7°C | 62 mm | 31 cm |
| April | 10.7°C | −1.0°C | 5.0°C | 81 mm | 8 cm |
| May | 19.1°C | 5.6°C | 12.2°C | 80 mm | 0 cm |
| June | 23.8°C | 10.9°C | 17.4°C | 95 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 26.2°C | 13.4°C | 19.6°C | 92 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 25.1°C | 12.5°C | 18.7°C | 87 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 20.4°C | 8.1°C | 14.2°C | 87 mm | 0 cm |
| October | 12.6°C | 2.2°C | 7.4°C | 90 mm | 2 cm |
| November | 5.2°C | −3.5°C | 1.0°C | 72 mm | 16 cm |
| December | −2.1°C | −11.0°C | −7.0°C | 74 mm | 43 cm |
| Year | 11.2°C | −0.3°C | 5.3°C | 938 mm | 185 cm |
From −33.5°C to 27.0°C: March’s coldest and warmest days since 1991
Year to year, January varies most (a standard deviation of 3.5°C around −11.2°C) and August least (1.1°C).
Where Thurso’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: 1991–2020 normals for Angers 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: 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 Thurso’s climate
How warm does Thurso get in summer?
Peak warmth comes in July, at about 26.2°C by mid-afternoon.
How cold does Thurso get in winter?
The year’s coldest nights belong to January, at about −16.5°C.
How much rain and snow does Thurso 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?
In a normal winter there are about 121 days with at least 1 cm of snow lying.
Are these figures for Thurso itself?
No. ECCC measures normals at Angers, not in Thurso; the page uses the nearest it has.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Thurso →
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).