Climate Variations

Climate varies considerably across the continent, although all parts of Canada receive measurable amounts of snowfall in the winter. In the southern interior of British Columbia and in the high Arctic, semi-desert and desert climates prevail, while the coastal regions of British Columbia are classified as Rain Forest. Weather conditions in capital and major Canadian cities are as follows:

   Snowfall (cm)  Total Precipitation
(either snow or rain)
 Number of days per year with precipitation
Atlantic Canada
 St. John's NF  322.1 1,482 217
 Charlottetown PEI  338.7 1,201 177
 Halifax NS  261.4 1,474 170
 Fredericton NB  294.5 1,131 156
Québec
 Québec City QC  337.0 1,208 178
 Montréal QC  21 4.2  941 162
Ontario
 Ottawa ON  221.5 911 159
 Toronto ON 135.0 819 139
The West
 Winnipeg MB 114.8 504 119
 Regina SK 107.4 364 109
 Edmonton AB 129.6 461 123
 Calgary AB 135.4 399 111
British Columbia
 Vancouver BC 54.9 1,167 164
 Victoria BC 46.9 858 153
The North
 Whitehorse YT 145.2 269 122
 Yellowknife NWT 143.9 267 118

International Comparisons:

   Snowfall (cm)  Total Precipitation
(either snow or rain)
 Number of days per year with precipitation
Beijing, China 30 623 66
London, England 594 107
Cairo, Egypt 22 5
Capetown, S. Africa 652 95
London, England
Los Angeles, USA 373 39
Mexico City, Mexico 726 133
Moscow, Russia 161 575 181
New Delhi, India 715 47
Paris, France 585 164
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1,093 131
Rome, Italy 749 76
Sydney, Australia 1,205 152
Tokyo, Japan 20 1,563 104
Washington, USA 42 991 112