What’s the wettest month in your corner of Canada?
Take a look at when your community typically sees its wettest month of the year
Canada’s climate supports everything from the heaviest tropical downpours to raging blizzards that bury communities beneath mountains of snow.
Steady rain and snow greet the country throughout the year, but most communities across Canada witness a distinct peak in precipitation trends.
Here’s a look at the wettest month of the year in your corner of Canada.
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Rain is critical across B.C., the Prairies
Rain is big business in the western half of Canada, where reliable bouts of precipitation are critical for agricultural interests and for building natural protection against the threat of wildfires.
June and July often feature the year’s largest rainfall totals across most of Western Canada. Calgary averages 112.7 mm of rain during a typical June, while the month tends to deliver Regina around 85 mm of precipitation. Folks in Winnipeg usually see their wettest month in July, during which an average of 76 mm of rain falls on the city.
The coast is a different story. Atmospheric rivers washing ashore from the Pacific Ocean reach their peak during the fall months, allowing November to claim the top spot in Vancouver, during which the city averages nearly 175 mm of precipitation.
Some of that coastal rainfall is no joke. Prince Rupert, B.C., claims the top spot as Canada’s wettest city in the country. The community averages an astounding 2,593.6 mm of rain each year.
Wettest month varies in Ontario and Quebec
It’s no surprise that the onset of summer can bring the year’s highest rainfall totals to portions of southern Ontario.
Growing heat and humidity can combine with storm systems to produce ample precipitation across parts of the region. June features the year’s highest average rainfall in both Toronto (81 mm) and Ottawa (96 mm).
Those late-spring and early-summer storms have some competition, though. October is traditionally the wettest month of the year in Timmins and Sault Ste. Marie, where robust low-pressure systems are common across the upper Great Lakes during the heart of autumn.
Montreal also sees the year’s highest average rainfall (103 mm) during a typical October, though it’s a close call with July and August falling just a few millimetres behind.
Atlantic Canada gets drenched in the fall
Fall storms are nothing to sneeze at across the Atlantic provinces. Powerful low-pressure systems packed with ample moisture are commonplace as autumn settles into Canada.
Many communities across New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia expect their highest monthly precipitation during October or November. Saint John, N.B., sees an impressive 138.2 mm of precipitation during an average November.
St. John’s takes the cake among the region’s major cities, where an average December produces about 174 mm of precipitation.
February is largely Canada’s driest month of the year
Precipitation totals across Canada include both rainfall and snowfall. Measuring rain is relatively straightforward—the amount that falls in the gauge is the amount you jot down in the recordbooks.
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But what about snow? Temperatures largely determine the water content of snow. Colder temperatures produce drier, fluffier powder, while readings near the freezing mark often lead to a slushy, water-laden blanket of snow.
As a result of bone-chilling temperatures and moisture-starved snowfall events, February turns out to be the driest month of the year across a vast swath of Canada—covering a stretch from Edmonton to Fredericton and just about everywhere in between.