Photo: Unknown artist Unknown artist · Public domainDawson sits near the bottom of Canadian towns for winter warmth
Midsummer highs settle at about 23.1°C. The wettest month is July; the driest is April. By precipitation alone, it ranks drier than almost every Canadian town. Heating does most of its work from September to May, in months below 10°C on average.
1991–2020 normals from ECCC’s Dawson location, 13 km east.
A year in Dawson at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Dawson’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Yukon beside it.
What a year in Dawson feels like
Each season’s and each month’s usual high and low, 1991–2020.
240 frost days and 66 days above 20°C a year
The frost season runs August to June, and January freezes nearly every night. Deep cold, under −20°C, comes on about 104 nights a year.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
319 mm of precipitation in a typical year
On about 78 days a year, 1 mm or more falls.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
162 cm of snow in a typical year
Snow falls from September to May, most of all in December (about 34 cm).
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
Heating a home in Dawson
88% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: September to May.
The total grows by a degree for every degree a day’s mean sits under 18°C. That means homes here need more heating than almost every Canadian town.
Living with Dawson’s climate
What the normals mean for a garden, a day outside and the depth of winter.
From about 30 May to 16 August the garden is usually clear of frost, some 77 days.
For long days outdoors, Jul bring highs of 17–27°C and lows of 8°C or more.
Parks & trails →On some 95 days a year the wind chill drops past −20; mitts and a scarf earn their place.
The air feels heavier than 30 on the humidex for about 2 days a year.
A normal year has no blizzard, flood or heat wave in it; Dawson’s hazards page looks at those.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Dawson
ECCC builds the Dawson normals from 2 stations’ records over 1991–2020, joined where one replaced another.
| Distance from the town | 13 km east |
| Station altitude | 370 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −52.0°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 34.5°C |
| Average wind | 3.9 km/h on average, most often from the east |
| Next-nearest location | McQuesten, 106 km |
How Dawson compares
Compared with 2,611 towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more across Canada; the dots mark the other normals locations in Yukon.
Nearby towns’ climate
The nearest places on a normals location of their own: those that share Dawson’s would only repeat its figures. No closer place has figures: this one lies 156 km from Dawson.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dawson | 23.1°C | −29.8°C | 319 mm |
| Yukon, Unorganized 156 km · Pelly Ranch/Fort Selkirk | 22.9°C about the same | −29.0°C 0.8°C milder | 331 mm |
Dawson 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 | −21.6°C | −29.8°C | −25.7°C | 18 mm | 28 cm |
| February | −15.1°C | −26.5°C | −20.9°C | 13 mm | 17 cm |
| March | −4.2°C | −20.9°C | −12.6°C | 11 mm | 14 cm |
| April | 7.9°C | −7.1°C | 0.4°C | 11 mm | 6 cm |
| May | 16.4°C | 1.2°C | 8.8°C | 28 mm | 2 cm |
| June | 22.1°C | 6.7°C | 14.4°C | 44 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 23.1°C | 8.7°C | 15.9°C | 48 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 19.5°C | 5.8°C | 12.7°C | 48 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 12.6°C | 0.2°C | 6.4°C | 30 mm | 4 cm |
| October | 0.2°C | −8.2°C | −4.0°C | 26 mm | 24 cm |
| November | −13.7°C | −21.7°C | −17.7°C | 23 mm | 33 cm |
| December | −18.8°C | −27.1°C | −23.0°C | 20 mm | 34 cm |
| Year | 2.4°C | −9.9°C | −3.8°C | 319 mm | 162 cm |
In March, anything from −47.5°C to 14.8°C
Bars run from each month’s record low to its record high over 1991–2020; January is the month whose average wanders most from year to year (±4.9°C around −25.7°C), July the one that wanders least (±0.9°C).
Where Dawson’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the closest ECCC location with twelve months of temperature normals, Dawson, 1991–2020.
- Comparisons: all Canadian places of 2,500 or more except city totals and reserves, each read the same way.
- 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 Dawson’s climate
How warm does Dawson get in summer?
Expect highs near 23.1°C in July, the hottest month on average.
How cold does Dawson get in winter?
On a normal January night the air drops to −29.8°C, the coldest of the year.
How much rain and snow does Dawson get?
A normal year brings 319 mm, snow included as water: July is wettest at 48 mm, April driest at 11 mm.
Are these figures for Dawson itself?
They are the normals for Dawson, measured just outside Dawson itself.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Dawson →
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).