Less rain and snow fall on Melfort than on 94% of Canadian towns: 397 mm a year
Midwinter brings lows of about −21.1°C. By January nights alone, it runs colder than 92% of Canadian towns. Precipitation peaks in July and eases off in February. Ice scrapers and block heaters earn their keep on roughly 202 days a year at 0°C or below.
Read at Melfort, 4.5 km south: ECCC’s normals for 1991–2020.
A year in Melfort at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Melfort’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Saskatchewan beside it.
What a year in Melfort feels like
Seasons and months as ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals give them: a typical day’s high and low.
Frost on 202 days, 20°C on 90
The frost season runs September to May, and January freezes nearly every night. Deep cold, under −20°C, comes on about 53 nights a year.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
About 397 mm of rain and snow a year
On about 68 days a year, 1 mm or more falls.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
Snowfall: about 128 cm in a normal year
Snow falls from October to May, most of all in December (about 28 cm). 4th snowiest of 101 towns of 2,500+ in Saskatchewan.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
ECCC’s Melfort normals leave snowfall out; the figures here come from Nipawin, 66 km away.
Heating a home in Melfort
89% 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. In heating terms, homes need more heating than 98% of Canadian towns.
Living with Melfort’s climate
Gardening, time outside, winter cold and summer heat, from the 1991–2020 normals.
The growing season between frosts lasts about 111 days, roughly 24 May to 13 September.
Plan time outside for Jun, Jul and Aug: highs of 17–27°C and nights no colder than 8°C.
Parks & trails →The wind chill passes −20 on about 90 days in a normal year.
The air feels heavier than 30 on the humidex for about 18 days a year.
Ice storms, floods and heat waves are risks, not averages: they are on Melfort’s hazards page.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Melfort
Behind the 1991–2020 normals for Melfort are 2 stations, which ECCC combines into one record.
| Distance from the town | 4.5 km south |
| Station altitude | 490 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Snowfall from | Nipawin, 66 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −44.9°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 36.6°C |
| Average wind | 14.7 km/h on average, most often from the west |
| Next-nearest location | Nipawin, 66 km |
How Melfort 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 Saskatchewan.
Nearby towns’ climate
The nearest places on a normals location of their own: those that share Melfort’s would only repeat its figures. The nearest places to Melfort with figures are 57–78 km away.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melfort | 23.4°C | −21.1°C | 397 mm |
| Birch Hills 57 km · Prince Albert | 24.2°C 0.8°C warmer | −22.8°C 1.7°C colder | 432 mm |
| Torch River No. 488 66 km · Nipawin | 23.8°C about the same | −23.4°C 2.3°C colder | 424 mm |
| Humboldt No. 370 78 km · Watrous | 24.6°C 1.2°C warmer | −20.0°C 1.1°C milder | 417 mm |
Melfort 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 | −11.8°C | −21.1°C | −16.6°C | 15 mm | 22 cm |
| February | −9.6°C | −19.3°C | −14.5°C | 10 mm | 18 cm |
| March | −2.9°C | −12.5°C | −7.8°C | 13 mm | 14 cm |
| April | 7.6°C | −3.4°C | 2.1°C | 24 mm | 14 cm |
| May | 16.9°C | 3.3°C | 10.1°C | 33 mm | 2 cm |
| June | 21.1°C | 9.3°C | 15.2°C | 78 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 23.4°C | 11.5°C | 17.5°C | 79 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 23.1°C | 10.2°C | 16.6°C | 52 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 17.5°C | 5.2°C | 11.4°C | 39 mm | under 1 cm |
| October | 8.1°C | −1.8°C | 3.1°C | 25 mm | 12 cm |
| November | −2.6°C | −10.6°C | −6.7°C | 15 mm | 18 cm |
| December | −9.3°C | −18.0°C | −13.7°C | 14 mm | 28 cm |
| Year | 6.8°C | −4.0°C | 1.4°C | 397 mm | 128 cm |
The month with the widest range: April, −26.1°C to 31.2°C
December is the least predictable month: about two years in three its average lands within 4.3°C of the normal, −13.7°C. July is the steadiest, within 1.2°C.
Where Melfort’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: ECCC’s 1991–2020 Canadian Climate Normals for Melfort, the nearest location with a full year of temperatures.
- Other locations: where a location publishes no full year of precipitation or snowfall, the nearest one that does supplies it, named beside those figures.
- 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, absent from every 1991–2020 location, and an altitude correction, for want of the town’s own elevation.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Melfort’s climate
How warm does Melfort get in summer?
Of all twelve months, July has the warmest afternoons, about 23.4°C.
How cold does Melfort get in winter?
In January, the coldest month, the typical low is −21.1°C.
How much rain and snow does Melfort get?
Count on roughly 397 mm a year, heaviest in July (79 mm) and lightest in February (10 mm).
Are these figures for Melfort itself?
They are the normals for Melfort, measured just outside Melfort itself.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Melfort →
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).