Ottawa is a weather station located 79 m above sea level, 3 km from Hintonburg. Its records go back to 1890: 130 years of temperature are available up to 2020, along with rainfall and a comparison with two reference normals. Closed series: the records of this station end in 2020. Over 1991–2020 the annual mean temperature there is 6.6 °C, clearly higher than over 1961–1990 (5.7 °C): a difference of 0.9 °C. The warmest year of the series is 1998 (8.3 °C) and the coldest 1904 (3.4 °C). The last complete year, 2020, ranks 7 out of 130, from warmest to coldest. Over 1961–2020, the annual mean temperature changes by +0.33 °C per decade. The station ranks 40 out of 240 stations, from the fastest rise to the slowest.
Annual mean temperature since 1890
The first ten years of the series (1890–1899) average 5.2 °C; the last ten (2010–2020) average 7.2 °C, a difference of +2.0 °C. Of the ten warmest years in the series, 7 fall after 1999. The warmest is 1998 (8.3 °C). The ten-year running mean peaks at 7.1 °C (2018) and bottoms out at 4.6 °C (1943).
Annual rainfall since 1890
On average 999 mm of rain falls per year over the 127 documented years. The wettest year, 2017, received 1400 mm; the driest, 1931, only 708 mm, which is 2.0 times less. The 1991–2020 normal (1036 mm per year) is 42 mm (4.2 %) above the 1961–1990 one (994 mm). Over 1991–2020, June is on average the wettest month (101 mm) and February the driest (70 mm). Between 1997 and 2017, 12 years out of 20 exceeded the series average.
Monthly normals: 1961–1990 against 1991–2020
The table compares, month by month, the mean temperature and the rainfall total of two thirty-year reference periods. The difference column shows what the recent period changes compared with the earlier one.
| Month | Temp. 1961–1990 | Temp. 1991–2020 | Difference | Rain 1961–1990 | Rain 1991–2020 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −11.0 °C | −9.8 °C | +1.2 °C | 74 mm | 84 mm | +10 mm |
| February | −9.5 °C | −8.3 °C | +1.2 °C | 68 mm | 70 mm | +2 mm |
| March | −2.9 °C | −2.3 °C | +0.6 °C | 67 mm | 75 mm | +8 mm |
| April | 5.7 °C | 6.1 °C | +0.4 °C | 70 mm | 83 mm | +13 mm |
| May | 12.7 °C | 13.6 °C | +0.9 °C | 81 mm | 84 mm | +3 mm |
| June | 17.8 °C | 18.6 °C | +0.8 °C | 89 mm | 101 mm | +12 mm |
| July | 20.5 °C | 21.1 °C | +0.6 °C | 91 mm | 96 mm | +5 mm |
| August | 19.1 °C | 19.9 °C | +0.8 °C | 93 mm | 88 mm | −5 mm |
| September | 14.4 °C | 15.5 °C | +1.1 °C | 88 mm | 93 mm | +5 mm |
| October | 8.1 °C | 8.6 °C | +0.5 °C | 80 mm | 92 mm | +12 mm |
| November | 1.2 °C | 1.9 °C | +0.7 °C | 93 mm | 80 mm | −13 mm |
| December | −7.6 °C | −5.2 °C | +2.4 °C | 100 mm | 90 mm | −10 mm |
The largest temperature change is in December (+2.4 °C) and the smallest in April (+0.4 °C); over the year the mean difference is +0.9 °C, and 12 months out of twelve are warmer than before. For rainfall, the largest difference is in April (+13 mm) and the smallest in November (−13 mm).
Records at Ottawa
- Warmest year: 8.3 °C, in 1998
- Coldest year: 3.4 °C, in 1904
- Driest year: 708 mm, in 1931
- Wettest year: 1400 mm, in 2017
- Warmest month: 24.6 °C, in July 1921
- Coldest month: −21.0 °C, in February 1934
- Wettest month: 264 mm, in July 1899
4.9 °C separate the warmest year of the series from the coldest. Daily records are not part of the dataset for this station: only annual and monthly extremes are shown.
Temperature trend over 1961–2020
The regression line of annual mean temperature changes by +0.33 °C per decade between 1961 and 2020, about +1.9 °C over the whole period. That is faster than the median of the 240 stations (+0.25 °C per decade), by 0.08 °C per decade: the station ranks 40 out of 240.
Data source and licence
Data source: Environment and Climate Change Canada (dataset “AHCCD (ahccd-monthly) + climate-daily”), licence Open Government Licence – Canada. Last updated: 29 October 2026.
The data for Ottawa are shown as the source publishes them; this site does not correct them. A year is kept only if at least eleven months of measurements are available, and a normal is computed only with at least twenty years of data out of its thirty. Temperatures are rounded to 0.1 °C and rainfall to the millimetre. The station is one of 240 stations in Canada: the overview page lets you compare them.
Frequently asked questions
What is the annual mean temperature at Ottawa?
Over 1991–2020, the annual mean temperature at Ottawa is 6.6 °C. It was 5.7 °C over 1961–1990, a difference of +0.9 °C.
What is the warmest year ever measured at Ottawa?
Since records began in 1890, the warmest year at Ottawa is 1998, at 8.3 °C on average. The coldest is 1904 (3.4 °C).
Is the climate at Ottawa getting warmer?
Yes: at Ottawa, the annual mean temperature rises by 0.33 °C per decade between 1961 and 2020, +1.9 °C in total. 7 of the 10 warmest years in the series fall after 1999.
Towns near this station
Neighbouring stations