How much and how often does it snow in Victoria?

Victoria gets less snow than any other city in Canada.  The 30-year (1991-2020) average annual snowfall for Victoria is 16 cm.  That's significantly less than nearby Vancouver, which receives an annual average of 34 cm, as measured at the Vancouver Airport.  

The core area of Greater Victoria also gets significantly less snow than outlying areas such as Langford or the Saanich Peninsula.  The Victoria Airport, located 25 km north of Victoria, averages 34.8 cm of snow annually - more than double what the City receives.  It's quite common for there to be snow in the Westshore or the Saanich Peninsula, while there is little or no snow in the core area.  This is due to the generally milder temperatures near the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the lower precipitation amounts in the core thanks to the Olympic Mountain rainshadow.

The table below summarizes the average snowfall and snow cover (days with at least 2 cm of snow on the ground) in Victoria, by month.  December has the highest amount of snowfall (6.3 cm), although both December and January have on average, a similar number of days with snow on the ground (1.2-1.3 days).

While the table above shows the 30-year averages for snow in Victoria, there is a lot of variability from year to year.  The chart below shows the annual winter snowfall over the past century.  The chart shows 3 years (1949/50, 1968/69, and 1996/97) when Victoria received more than 100 cm of snow.  In fact, the snowiest winter on record for Victoria was 1915/16 (not shown on the chart) when Victoria received an astonishing 195.6 cm of snow!  On the other hand, there have been 7 winters in the past 125 years (6%) with no snow, and 33 winters (26%) with less than 5 cm of snow.  

The chart also shows the rolling 30-year average snowfall and 30-year median snowfall (starting with the 30-year period from 1898/99 to 1927/28 and finishing with the most recent 30-year period of 1993/94 to 2022/23).  Because the average snowfall tends to be skewed by the occasional large snowfall, the median snowfall (11.5 cm for 1991-2020) is lower than the average snowfall (16.0 cm). 

Even the 30-year average snowfall has fluctuated significantly over time.  From a low point of 19.9 cm for 1918/19 to 1947/48, the 30-year average snowfall reached a high point of 37.5 cm for 1946/47 to 1975/76.  Since then, average snowfall has generally been decreasing, with climate change likely contributing to this trend.  For the most recent 30-year period (1992/93 to 2021/22), snowfall averaged 17.4 cm (slightly higher than the 1991-2020 average).  

The chart below shows the trend in number of days annually with at least 2 cm of snow on the ground.  Snow on the ground has only been measured in Victoria since 1955, so the period of record is shorter.  As with snowfall totals, the days with snow on the ground varies considerably from year to year.  In 19 of the past 68 winters (28%), there have been no days with 2 cm or more snow on the ground.  On the other extreme, there have been 4 winters with more than 15 days with snow on the ground - including one winter (1968/69) when there was 30 days with snow on the ground!  The average number of days with snow on the ground has generally decreased over time, from about 5 days for the 1955/56 to 1984/85 period down to about 3.8 days for the most recent 30-year period (1992/93 to 2021/22), which again was slightly higher than the 1991-2020 average.

Another way to look at the snowfall data is to use quintiles.

• The bottom quintile (the 20% of winters with the least snowfall) had an average snowfall of 1.2 cm and 0 days with snow on the ground.

• The next quintile averaged 7.3 cm of snow and 0.7 days with snow on the ground.

• The middle quintile averaged 16.5 cm of snow and 3.0 days with snow on the ground.

• The next quintile averaged 30.3 cm of snow and 5.4 days with snow on the ground.

• The top quintile (the 20% of winters with the most snowfall) had an average of 73.9 cm of snow and 15.2 days with snow on the ground.

You sometimes here about a big snow storm in another city dumping "a month's worth of snow" in a day or two.  Because snow is so infrequent in Victoria, it's not only very common to get a month's worth of snow all at once, but it's also common to get a full season's worth of snow in one storm.  For example, over the past 30 years, Victoria has received 76% of its total winter snowfall in a single two-day period.  During nearly one third of those years, Victoria received more than 95% of its seasonal snowfall in a single storm.

Other locations in the region have also seen a decline in average snowfall over the past few decades.  The chart below compares the trend in 30-year average snowfall in Victoria with other nearby locations (starting with the 30-year period from 1941/42 to 1970/71 and ending in the most recent 30-year period of 1993/94 to 2022/23).  All the locations have declined over this period.  Average snowfall levels in Victoria have trended quite closely to the pattern for Seattle.  By contrast, the Victoria Airport (in North Saanich) and the Vancouver Airport have significantly higher average snowfall levels, but they have also followed a declining trend.  

Fall 2022: an abrupt shift from warm and dry to cool and wet

 Meteorological fall is from September 1 to November 30.  Fall in Victoria nearly always transitions from warm and dry in September to cool and wet in November, but in 2022 the transition was very abrupt.  

Overall, the mean fall temperature at Victoria Gonzales was 11.8 degrees, which is 0.6 degrees warmer than the 30-year average.  September was the second warmest on record at Victoria Gonzales, while October was the warmest on record (2.2 degrees above normal).  However, November was tied for the 5th coldest on record (2.1 degrees below normal).  

The chart below shows the daily maximum and minimum temperatures at Victoria Gonzales during fall 2022, compared with the 30-year averages.  From September 1 to about October 20, temperatures were consistently above normal.  There was then an abrupt shift, with temperatures much cooler than normal for the remaining 6 weeks of fall.  This included two brief cold snap, in early November and again in late November, when overnight temperatures dipped below freezing.

Daily Max & Min Temperature at Victoria Gonzales

Victoria typically experiences 9.7 days each fall when the maximum temperature exceeds 20 C.  In 2022, there were 25 such days.  Victoria usually only averages 1.5 days each fall when the maximum temperature exceeds 25 C.  In 2022, this occurred on 4 days this fall: Sept. 6th, 9th and 10th, and again on October 2nd. The maximum temperature this fall was 25.8 C on September 10th.

On the other hand, Victoria typically only experiences 0.9 days each fall when the overnight low temperature falls below freezing.  In 2022, there were 4 such days, the coldest being -2.2 C on November 29th.  

Victoria received 167 mm of rain from September to November, 26% less than the 30-year average fall rainfall of 227 mm.   

Victoria had 23 days with measurable rainfall this fall, well below the normal 37.8 days.  There was no measurable precipitation from September 1 to October 20.  Then 9 of the last 11 days in October had rainfall, followed by 14 days in November.   Normally, Victoria averages 7.8 days with measurable rain in September, 12.8 days in October, and 17.4 days in November.  

The chart below shows daily precipitation during fall 2022, and compares the cumulative precipitation with the 30-year average.   The fall started off extremely dry, with no measurable rain until October 21.  A rainy spell in late October/early November meant that fall rainfall was almost normal by November 7.  This was followed by another dry spell (a two-week period with only a few days of very light rain, less than 1 mm), before rain returned at the end of the month.  The wettest day of the fall was October 30th, with 40.6 mm of rain.  

Daily & Cumulative Precipitation at Victoria Gonzales

There were also two short periods of light snow in Victoria during November.  On November 7th, there was 2 cm of snow and on November 29th, there was another 1 cm of snow that quickly turned to rain and melted by noon that day.