Sudbury Snowfall Totals & Accumulation Averages
This page pulls together information on when, how much and how often Sudbury, Ontario has snow.
There are data and descriptions here of how many days it snows and the total amount of snowfall that Sudbury usually gets. There are also monthly and yearly counts of the days that Sudbury 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 Greater Sudbury Airport.
How Often it Snows in Sudbury
| Inches | Centimetres | |
|---|---|---|
| January | 29.6 | 75 |
| February | 21.8 | 55 |
| March | 13.3 | 34 |
| April | 12.3 | 31 |
| May | 0.7 | 2 |
| October | 2.3 | 6 |
| November | 15.2 | 39 |
| December | 25.3 | 64 |
| Year | 120.3 | 306 |
| Days | Inches | Centimetres | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17.2 | January | 23.4 | 60 |
| 13.4 | February | 20.4 | 52 |
| 9.6 | March | 13.7 | 35 |
| 4.9 | April | 6.6 | 17 |
| 0.9 | May | 0.8 | 2 |
| 0.1 | September | 0.0 | 0 |
| 2.9 | October | 2.2 | 6 |
| 9.7 | November | 11.7 | 30 |
| 16.3 | December | 24.8 | 63 |
| 74.9 | Year | 103.7 | 263 |
When Sudbury Has Its First & Last Snowfalls
The first snow of the season for Sudbury usually arrives in October, but a light snowfall can show up as early as September.
The season's last snowfall typically happens in April although in some years a late snow lands in May or even June.
Sudbury is normally free of snow every year during July and August.
How Many Snowstorms Sudbury Gets
Most days of snowfall in Sudbury leave less than five centimetres (2 inches), of fresh snow on the ground. For 18 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 about six times a year. But major blizzards that dump 25 cm or more in one day are rare events that don't happen every year.
| 5 cm 2.0 inches |
10 cm 3.9 inches |
25 cm 9.8 inches | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.9 | 1.3 | 0.1 |
| February | 3.5 | 1.1 | 0.1 |
| March | 2.3 | 0.7 | 0.1 |
| April | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| May | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| October | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| November | 2.0 | 0.5 | 0.1 |
| December | 4.1 | 1.7 | 0.0 |
| Year | 17.5 | 5.7 | 0.4 |
How Much Snow Normally Accumulates in Sudbury
For about 136 days, or over one-third of a year, Sudbury has at least a centimetre of snow on the ground. In mid-winter the snowpack averages 36 cm deep.
Generally the snow cover begins to build in December and remains deep through most of January to mid March. By the end of April the snow is usually gone.
| 1 cm 0.4 inches |
5 cm 2.0 inches |
10 cm 3.9 inches |
20 cm 7.9 inches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30.8 | 29.9 | January | 28.2 | 20.5 |
| 28.1 | 28.0 | February | 26.8 | 22.7 |
| 27.9 | 25.6 | March | 22.0 | 17.0 |
| 9.0 | 5.0 | April | 2.2 | 0.6 |
| 0.3 | 0.1 | May | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 0.8 | 0.2 | October | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 11.0 | 5.8 | November | 3.2 | 1.1 |
| 27.6 | 24.0 | December | 19.5 | 10.7 |
| 135.6 | 118.5 | Year | 102.0 | 72.5 |
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.