Yellowknife Snowfall Totals & Accumulation Averages

This page pulls together information on when, how much and how often Yellowknife, Northwest Territories has snow.

There are data and descriptions here of how many days it snows and the total amount of snowfall that Yellowknife usually gets. There are also monthly and yearly counts of the days that Yellowknife normally has heavy snowstorms and deep snow accumulated on the ground. Plus there's information on when the city can expect its first and last snowfalls of the season.

The first set of monthly snow totals are averages for 2010 to 2019. All the other numbers are long-term historical averages based on weather data gathered from 1981 to 2010 at the Yellowknife Airport.

How Often it Snows in Yellowknife

10-year snowfall averages in Yellowknife, 2010 to 2019
  Inches Centi­metres
January 11.1 28
February 6.2 16
March 4.2 11
April 3.7 9
May 1.0 2
June 0.0 0
August 0.0 0
September 0.3 1
October 6.4 16
November 11.5 29
December 8.6 22
Year 53.0 135
30-year averages for total snowfall and days with 0.2 centimetres (0.08 inches) or more fresh snow in Yellowknife, 1981-2010
Days   Inches Centi­metres
11.9 January 7.7 20
11.0 February 7.9 20
9.2 March 7.3 19
4.4 April 4.0 10
2.1 May 1.9 5
0.1 June 0.0 0
0.1 August 0.0 0
1.2 September 1.4 3
10.0 October 8.2 21
16.0 November 14.4 37
12.8 December 9.2 23
78.6 Year 62.1 158

When Yellowknife Has Its First & Last Snowfalls

The first snowfall of autumn for Yellowknife usually arrives in September or October, but can show up as early as August.

The season's last snowfall typically happens in April or May, although in some years a late snow lands in June.

Only in July is Yellowknife normally free of snow every year.

How Many Snowstorms Yellowknife Gets

Most days of snowfall in Yellowknife leave less than five centimetres (2 inches) of fresh snow on the ground. For eight days a year on average, the amount of new snow totals at least five cm.

Big snowstorms of over ten cm a day normally occur once or twice a year. But major blizzards that dump 25 cm or more in one day are not at all expected here.

Number of days per month and year on average in Yellowknife with a total snowfall of at least 5, 10 or 20 centimetres
  5 cm
2.0 inches
10 cm
3.9 inches
25 cm
9.8 inches
January 0.6 0.2 0.0
February 0.8 0.1 0.0
March 0.9 0.2 0.0
April 0.8 0.1 0.0
May 0.3 0.0 0.0
September 0.2 0.1 0.0
October 1.0 0.3 0.0
November 2.2 0.4 0.0
December 1.0 0.2 0.0
Year 7.8 1.4 0.0

How Much Snow Normally Accumulates in Yellowknife

For about 192 days, more than half the year, Yellowknife has at least a centimetre of snow on the ground. In mid-winter the snowpack averages 29 to 35 cm deep. The snow is usually at its deepest in March.

Average total days per month and year in Yellowknife with snow depth of at least 1, 5, 10 or 20 cm on the ground
1 cm
0.4 inches
5 cm
2.0 inches
  10 cm
3.9 inches
20 cm
7.9 inches
31.0 30.9 January 30.4 24.2
28.3 28.3 February 28.2 24.9
31.0 31.0 March 31.0 30.1
25.3 23.6 April 21.3 15.6
2.4 1.0 May 0.3 0.0
0.3 0.2 September 0.1 0.0
12.6 6.4 October 2.8 0.2
29.7 25.8 November 19.8 7.6
31.0 30.5 December 28.8 20.1
191.5 177.6 Year 162.6 122.7
References

Environment Canada. Meteorological Service of Canada. Canadian Climate Normals. 1981-2010 Climate Normals & Averages.

Jay Lawrimore, Ron Ray, Scott Applequist, Bryant Korzeniewski, Matthew Menne. 2016. Global Summary of the Month and Year, Version 1.0. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

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