Vancouver Snowfall Totals & Accumulation Averages
This page pulls together information on when, how much and how often Vancouver, British Columbia has snow.
There are data and descriptions here of how many days it snows and the total amount of snowfall that Vancouver usually gets. There are also monthly and yearly counts of the days that Vancouver normally has heavy snowstorms and deep snow accumulated on the ground. Plus there's information on when the city can expect its first and last snowfalls of the season.
The first set of monthly snow totals are averages for 2010 to 2019 recorded at Vancouver International Airport. All the other numbers are long-term historical averages based on weather data gathered from 1981 to 2010 at Vancouver's Oakridge Neighbourhood.
How Often it Snows in Vancouver
| Inches | Centimetres | |
|---|---|---|
| January | 0.9 | 2 |
| February | 5.0 | 13 |
| March | 0.2 | 1 |
| April | 0.0 | 0 |
| May | 0.0 | 0 |
| October | 0.0 | 0 |
| November | 0.8 | 2 |
| December | 2.4 | 6 |
| Year | 9.3 | 24 |
| Days | Inches | Centimetres | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | January | 6.2 | 16 |
| 0.9 | February | 1.8 | 5 |
| 0.6 | March | 1.0 | 3 |
| 0.0 | April | 0.0 | 0 |
| 0.1 | May | 0.1 | 0 |
| 0.1 | October | 0.1 | 0 |
| 0.8 | November | 2.0 | 5 |
| 3.1 | December | 6.5 | 16 |
| 8.6 | Year | 17.5 | 45 |
When Vancouver Has Its First & Last Snowfalls
The first snowfall of winter for Vancouver usually arrives in December, but can show up as early as November or even October.
The season's last snowfall typically happens in February or March although in some years a late snow lands in April.
Vancouver is normally free of snow every year from May to September.
How Many Snowstorms Vancouver Gets
Most days of snowfall in Vancouver leave less than five centimetres (2 inches) of fresh snow on the ground. For three days a year on average, the amount of new snow totals at least five cm.
Big snowstorms of over ten cm a day normally occur once or twice a year. But major blizzards that dump 25 cm or more in one day are rare events that don't happen every year. Storms this severe are most likely to appear in December.
| 5 cm 2.0 inches |
10 cm 3.9 inches |
25 cm 9.8 inches | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1.3 | 0.8 | 0.0 |
| February | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| March | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| November | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| December | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.2 |
| Year | 2.9 | 1.7 | 0.2 |
How Much Snow Normally Accumulates in Vancouver
For about nine days a year, Vancouver has at least a centimetre of snow on the ground. Since it rains more than snows during winter, the remnants of a snowfall usually wash away before long. Deep snow is most likely to build up here at the end of December and in January.
| 1 cm 0.4 inches |
5 cm 2.0 inches |
10 cm 3.9 inches |
20 cm 7.9 inches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.7 | 5.1 | January | 3.4 | 0.6 |
| 0.5 | 0.1 | February | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 0.0 | 0.0 | March | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 0.0 | 0.0 | April | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 0.1 | 0.0 | May | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 0.5 | 0.3 | November | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| 2.5 | 1.1 | December | 0.8 | 0.3 |
| 9.3 | 6.6 | Year | 4.6 | 1.2 |
References
Environment Canada. Meteorological Service of Canada. Canadian Climate Normals. 1981-2010 Climate Normals & Averages.
Jay Lawrimore, Ron Ray, Scott Applequist, Bryant Korzeniewski, Matthew Menne. 2016. Global Summary of the Month and Year, Version 1.0. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.