Shawinigan is a weather station located 110 m above sea level, 2 km from Shawinigan. Its records go back to 1903: 100 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 5.0 °C, clearly higher than over 1961–1990 (4.3 °C): a difference of 0.7 °C. The warmest year of the series is 2001 (7.4 °C) and the coldest 1916 (1.6 °C). The last complete year, 2020, ranks 6 out of 100, from warmest to coldest. Over 1961–2020, the annual mean temperature changes by +0.28 °C per decade. The station ranks 88 out of 240 stations, from the fastest rise to the slowest.
Annual mean temperature since 1903
The first ten years of the series (1903–1915) average 3.6 °C; the last ten (2009–2020) average 5.5 °C, a difference of +1.9 °C. Of the ten warmest years in the series, 7 fall after 1999. The warmest is 2001 (7.4 °C). The ten-year running mean peaks at 5.6 °C (2017) and bottoms out at 2.9 °C (1941).
Annual rainfall since 1903
On average 1096 mm of rain falls per year over the 81 documented years. The wettest year, 1928, received 1570 mm; the driest, 1970, only 791 mm, which is 2.0 times less. The 1991–2020 normal (1013 mm per year) is 20 mm (1.9 %) below the 1961–1990 one (1033 mm). Over 1991–2020, July is on average the wettest month (107 mm) and February the driest (62 mm). Between 1978 and 2013, 6 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 | −13.4 °C | −12.0 °C | +1.4 °C | 79 mm | 74 mm | −5 mm |
| February | −11.2 °C | −10.3 °C | +0.9 °C | 62 mm | 62 mm | 0 mm |
| March | −4.2 °C | −3.9 °C | +0.3 °C | 69 mm | 65 mm | −4 mm |
| April | 4.1 °C | 4.2 °C | +0.1 °C | 71 mm | 85 mm | +14 mm |
| May | 11.4 °C | 12.0 °C | +0.6 °C | 87 mm | 84 mm | −3 mm |
| June | 16.7 °C | 17.3 °C | +0.6 °C | 88 mm | 98 mm | +10 mm |
| July | 19.5 °C | 19.8 °C | +0.3 °C | 92 mm | 107 mm | +15 mm |
| August | 18.0 °C | 18.7 °C | +0.7 °C | 110 mm | 87 mm | −23 mm |
| September | 12.9 °C | 13.8 °C | +0.9 °C | 98 mm | 95 mm | −3 mm |
| October | 6.9 °C | 7.5 °C | +0.6 °C | 87 mm | 88 mm | +1 mm |
| November | −0.3 °C | 0.0 °C | +0.3 °C | 93 mm | 79 mm | −14 mm |
| December | −9.3 °C | −7.4 °C | +1.9 °C | 97 mm | 89 mm | −8 mm |
The largest temperature change is in December (+1.9 °C) and the smallest in April (+0.1 °C); over the year the mean difference is +0.7 °C, and 12 months out of twelve are warmer than before. For rainfall, the largest difference is in July (+15 mm) and the smallest in August (−23 mm).
Records at Shawinigan
- Warmest year: 7.4 °C, in 2001
- Coldest year: 1.6 °C, in 1916
- Driest year: 791 mm, in 1970
- Wettest year: 1570 mm, in 1928
- Warmest month: 22.4 °C, in July 1921
- Coldest month: −20.7 °C, in February 1934
- Wettest month: 374 mm, in November 1927
5.8 °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 +0.28 °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 0.03 °C per decade: the station ranks 88 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 Shawinigan 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 Shawinigan?
Over 1991–2020, the annual mean temperature at Shawinigan is 5.0 °C. It was 4.3 °C over 1961–1990, a difference of +0.7 °C.
What is the warmest year ever measured at Shawinigan?
Since records began in 1903, the warmest year at Shawinigan is 2001, at 7.4 °C on average. The coldest is 1916 (1.6 °C).
Is the climate at Shawinigan getting warmer?
Yes: at Shawinigan, the annual mean temperature rises by 0.28 °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