Williams Lake is a weather station located 940 m above sea level, 8 km from Williams Lake. Its records go back to 1939: 78 years of temperature are available up to 2019, along with rainfall and a comparison with two reference normals. Closed series: the records of this station end in 2019. Over 1991–2020 the annual mean temperature there is 4.8 °C, noticeably higher than over 1961–1990 (4.2 °C): a difference of 0.5 °C. The warmest year of the series is 1987 (6.5 °C) and the coldest 1955 (1.5 °C). The last complete year, 2019, ranks 69 out of 78, from warmest to coldest. Over 1961–2019, the annual mean temperature changes by +0.15 °C per decade. The station ranks 218 out of 240 stations, from the fastest rise to the slowest.
Annual mean temperature since 1939
The first ten years of the series (1939–1951) average 4.3 °C; the last ten (2010–2019) average 4.8 °C, a difference of +0.6 °C. Of the ten warmest years in the series, 3 fall after 1999. The warmest is 1987 (6.5 °C). The ten-year running mean peaks at 5.0 °C (2006) and bottoms out at 3.4 °C (1957).
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 | −8.5 °C | −6.5 °C | +2.0 °C | – | – | – |
| February | −4.1 °C | −4.4 °C | −0.3 °C | – | – | – |
| March | −0.2 °C | 0.1 °C | +0.3 °C | – | – | – |
| April | 4.6 °C | 5.0 °C | +0.4 °C | – | – | – |
| May | 9.2 °C | 10.1 °C | +0.9 °C | – | – | – |
| June | 13.2 °C | 13.4 °C | +0.2 °C | – | – | – |
| July | 15.6 °C | 16.2 °C | +0.6 °C | – | – | – |
| August | 15.2 °C | 15.6 °C | +0.4 °C | – | – | – |
| September | 10.5 °C | 11.0 °C | +0.5 °C | – | – | – |
| October | 5.3 °C | 4.7 °C | −0.6 °C | – | – | – |
| November | −2.4 °C | −1.7 °C | +0.7 °C | – | – | – |
| December | −7.4 °C | −6.4 °C | +1.0 °C | – | – | – |
The largest temperature change is in January (+2.0 °C) and the smallest in October (−0.6 °C); over the year the mean difference is +0.5 °C, and 10 months out of twelve are warmer than before.
Records at Williams Lake
- Warmest year: 6.5 °C, in 1987
- Coldest year: 1.5 °C, in 1955
- Warmest month: 18.6 °C, in July 1998
- Coldest month: −26.6 °C, in January 1950
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 1961–2019
The regression line of annual mean temperature changes by +0.15 °C per decade between 1961 and 2019, about +0.9 °C over the whole period. That is slower than the median of the 240 stations (+0.25 °C per decade), by 0.10 °C per decade: the station ranks 218 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 Williams Lake 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 Williams Lake?
Over 1991–2020, the annual mean temperature at Williams Lake is 4.8 °C. It was 4.2 °C over 1961–1990, a difference of +0.5 °C.
What is the warmest year ever measured at Williams Lake?
Since records began in 1939, the warmest year at Williams Lake is 1987, at 6.5 °C on average. The coldest is 1955 (1.5 °C).
Is the climate at Williams Lake getting warmer?
Yes: at Williams Lake, the annual mean temperature rises by 0.15 °C per decade between 1961 and 2019, +0.9 °C in total. 3 of the 10 warmest years in the series fall after 1999.
Towns near this station
Neighbouring stations