Saltspring is a weather station located 46 m above sea level, 5 km from Ganges. Its records go back to 1910: 109 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 11.1 °C, clearly higher than over 1961–1990 (10.1 °C): a difference of 1.0 °C. The warmest year of the series is 2015 (12.5 °C) and the coldest 1955 (7.5 °C). The last complete year, 2020, ranks 7 out of 109, from warmest to coldest. Over 1961–2020, the annual mean temperature changes by +0.29 °C per decade. The station ranks 84 out of 240 stations, from the fastest rise to the slowest.
Annual mean temperature since 1910
The first ten years of the series (1910–1920) average 9.3 °C; the last ten (2011–2020) average 11.4 °C, a difference of +2.2 °C. Of the ten warmest years in the series, 7 fall after 1999. The warmest is 2015 (12.5 °C). The ten-year running mean peaks at 11.4 °C (2020) and bottoms out at 9.1 °C (1922).
Annual rainfall since 1910
On average 1094 mm of rain falls per year over the 95 documented years. The wettest year, 1968, received 1639 mm; the driest, 1929, only 439 mm, which is 3.7 times less. The 1991–2020 normal (1183 mm per year) is 45 mm (4.0 %) above the 1961–1990 one (1138 mm). Over 1991–2020, January is on average the wettest month (191 mm) and July the driest (25 mm). Between 1996 and 2017, 15 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 | 3.3 °C | 4.5 °C | +1.2 °C | 157 mm | 191 mm | +34 mm |
| February | 5.0 °C | 5.1 °C | +0.1 °C | 121 mm | 121 mm | 0 mm |
| March | 6.4 °C | 7.1 °C | +0.7 °C | 113 mm | 129 mm | +16 mm |
| April | 8.8 °C | 9.9 °C | +1.1 °C | 63 mm | 75 mm | +12 mm |
| May | 12.1 °C | 13.7 °C | +1.6 °C | 53 mm | 50 mm | −3 mm |
| June | 15.0 °C | 16.4 °C | +1.4 °C | 43 mm | 46 mm | +3 mm |
| July | 17.3 °C | 19.0 °C | +1.7 °C | 31 mm | 25 mm | −6 mm |
| August | 17.5 °C | 19.0 °C | +1.5 °C | 37 mm | 28 mm | −9 mm |
| September | 14.8 °C | 16.0 °C | +1.2 °C | 51 mm | 45 mm | −6 mm |
| October | 10.5 °C | 11.1 °C | +0.6 °C | 106 mm | 117 mm | +11 mm |
| November | 6.3 °C | 6.9 °C | +0.6 °C | 171 mm | 175 mm | +4 mm |
| December | 3.9 °C | 4.5 °C | +0.6 °C | 192 mm | 181 mm | −11 mm |
The largest temperature change is in July (+1.7 °C) and the smallest in February (+0.1 °C); over the year the mean difference is +1.0 °C, and 12 months out of twelve are warmer than before. For rainfall, the largest difference is in January (+34 mm) and the smallest in December (−11 mm).
Records at Saltspring
- Warmest year: 12.5 °C, in 2015
- Coldest year: 7.5 °C, in 1955
- Driest year: 439 mm, in 1929
- Wettest year: 1639 mm, in 1968
- Warmest month: 20.9 °C, in July 2018
- Coldest month: −4.7 °C, in January 1950
- Wettest month: 416 mm, in November 1983
5.0 °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 +0.29 °C per decade between 1961 and 2020, about +1.7 °C over the whole period. That is faster than the median of the 240 stations (+0.25 °C per decade), by 0.04 °C per decade: the station ranks 84 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 Saltspring 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 Saltspring?
Over 1991–2020, the annual mean temperature at Saltspring is 11.1 °C. It was 10.1 °C over 1961–1990, a difference of +1.0 °C.
What is the warmest year ever measured at Saltspring?
Since records began in 1910, the warmest year at Saltspring is 2015, at 12.5 °C on average. The coldest is 1955 (7.5 °C).
Is the climate at Saltspring getting warmer?
Yes: at Saltspring, the annual mean temperature rises by 0.29 °C per decade between 1961 and 2020, +1.7 °C in total. 7 of the 10 warmest years in the series fall after 1999.
Towns near this station
Neighbouring stations