Yellowknife Snowfall Totals & Accumulation Averages
This page pulls together information on when, how much and how often Yellowknife, Northwest Territories has snow.
There are data and descriptions here of how many days it snows and the total amount of snowfall that Yellowknife usually gets. There are also monthly and yearly counts of the days that Yellowknife 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. All the other numbers are long-term historical averages based on weather data gathered from 1981 to 2010 at the Yellowknife Airport.
How Often it Snows in Yellowknife
| Inches | Centimetres | |
|---|---|---|
| January | 11.1 | 28 |
| February | 6.2 | 16 |
| March | 4.2 | 11 |
| April | 3.7 | 9 |
| May | 1.0 | 2 |
| June | 0.0 | 0 |
| August | 0.0 | 0 |
| September | 0.3 | 1 |
| October | 6.4 | 16 |
| November | 11.5 | 29 |
| December | 8.6 | 22 |
| Year | 53.0 | 135 |
| Days | Inches | Centimetres | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11.9 | January | 7.7 | 20 |
| 11.0 | February | 7.9 | 20 |
| 9.2 | March | 7.3 | 19 |
| 4.4 | April | 4.0 | 10 |
| 2.1 | May | 1.9 | 5 |
| 0.1 | June | 0.0 | 0 |
| 0.1 | August | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1.2 | September | 1.4 | 3 |
| 10.0 | October | 8.2 | 21 |
| 16.0 | November | 14.4 | 37 |
| 12.8 | December | 9.2 | 23 |
| 78.6 | Year | 62.1 | 158 |
When Yellowknife Has Its First & Last Snowfalls
The first snowfall of autumn for Yellowknife usually arrives in September or October, but can show up as early as August.
The season's last snowfall typically happens in April or May, although in some years a late snow lands in June.
Only in July is Yellowknife normally free of snow every year.
How Many Snowstorms Yellowknife Gets
Most days of snowfall in Yellowknife leave less than five centimetres (2 inches) of fresh snow on the ground. For eight 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 not at all expected here.
| 5 cm 2.0 inches |
10 cm 3.9 inches |
25 cm 9.8 inches | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| February | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| March | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| April | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| May | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| September | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| October | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| November | 2.2 | 0.4 | 0.0 |
| December | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Year | 7.8 | 1.4 | 0.0 |
How Much Snow Normally Accumulates in Yellowknife
For about 192 days, more than half the year, Yellowknife has at least a centimetre of snow on the ground. In mid-winter the snowpack averages 29 to 35 cm deep. The snow is usually at its deepest in March.
| 1 cm 0.4 inches |
5 cm 2.0 inches |
10 cm 3.9 inches |
20 cm 7.9 inches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31.0 | 30.9 | January | 30.4 | 24.2 |
| 28.3 | 28.3 | February | 28.2 | 24.9 |
| 31.0 | 31.0 | March | 31.0 | 30.1 |
| 25.3 | 23.6 | April | 21.3 | 15.6 |
| 2.4 | 1.0 | May | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| 0.3 | 0.2 | September | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| 12.6 | 6.4 | October | 2.8 | 0.2 |
| 29.7 | 25.8 | November | 19.8 | 7.6 |
| 31.0 | 30.5 | December | 28.8 | 20.1 |
| 191.5 | 177.6 | Year | 162.6 | 122.7 |
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.