Climate and average weather in Cranbrook

In Cranbrook, the summers are warm, fairly dry, and mostly clear and the winters are very cold, snowy, and mostly cloudy.

Best: late June to mid September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Cranbrook typically varies from -11°C to 24°C, and is rarely below -24°C or above 31°C. July is the hottest month of the year, while December is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Cranbrook for warm-weather activities is from late June to mid September.

Hottest
Jul
24°
Coldest
Dec
-10°
Wettest
Jun
63 mm
Driest
Aug
25 mm
Rain / yr
522 mm
107 wet days
Daylight
7.9–16.1 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
949 m
49.5°N
Clearest
Jul
44% cloud

Cranbrook is city in British Columbia, Canada.

Founded
1898

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

Cranbrook weather by month, at a glance

The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.

Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around late June to mid September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Cranbrook, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

The hot season lasts 3.2 months, from June 12 to September 15, with daily high temperatures above 18°C. The hottest month of the year in Cranbrook is July, with an average high of 24°C and low of 10°C.

The cool season lasts 3.6 months, from November 16 to March 3, with daily high temperatures below 2°C. The coldest month of the year in Cranbrook is December, with an average low of -10°C and high of -3°C.

Days typically run about 11°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 15°C) in August.

-20°-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan-2-11
Feb0-10
Mar5-5
Apr10-1
May164
Jun197
Jul2410
Aug2410
Sep196
Oct100
Nov2-5
Dec-3-10

How hot and cold Cranbrook really feels

Feels-like highFeels-like lowactual air temp

The felt-temperature range through the year — heat index on the day's high (summer humidity), wind chill on the night's low (winter wind). The dashed lines are the plain thermometer; the gap is how much hotter or colder it really feels.

On the coldest nights, wind chill pulls the feels-like down to about -15°C (around January 4), with roughly 208 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C) 100 of them bitterly cold — worst in January.

-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan-3-2-14-11
Feb00-13-10
Mar55-8-5
Apr1010-3-1
May161624
Jun191967
Jul24241010
Aug2424910
Sep191956
Oct1010-10
Nov22-7-5
Dec-3-3-12-10

Average hourly temperature in Cranbrook

A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on July afternoons, near 24°C, and coldest before dawn in December, near -10°C.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM

Cranbrook weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysSnow daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan-3° / -11°4310.311.78.40.0
Feb / -10°337.37.89.80.0
Mar / -5°4710.58.711.50.3
Apr10° / -1°439.23.713.42.4
May16° / 5711.21.215.14.7
Jun19° / 6310.70.1166.0
Jul24° / 10°275.9015.67.7
Aug24° / 10°255.10.114.27.9
Sep19° / 356.50.312.46.5
Oct10° / 428.42.810.52.4
Nov / -5°5711.29.78.90.0
Dec-3° / -10°5110.811.280.0

Chance of rain

How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.

Cranbrook gets about 522 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is some rain, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 4.0 months, from around Feb 24 to Jun 26, peaking in June at about 39% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Aug 23.

June is the wettest month by volume, with 63 mm over about 11 wet days; August is the driest, with 25 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJun 8 · 39%Aug 23 · 15%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan3210
Feb277
Mar3311
Apr319
May3611
Jun3511
Jul206
Aug165
Sep217
Oct288
Nov3611
Dec3611

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Cranbrook collects about 522 mm of rain across 107 wet days — roughly 44 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. June is the wettest month with 63 mm, while August is the driest at just 25 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 34% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec433347435763272535425751
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan431012
Feb3378
Mar47119
Apr4394
May57111
Jun63110
Jul2760
Aug2550
Sep3570
Oct4283
Nov571110
Dec511111

Snow in Cranbrook

Average snowy days through the year, the snow-season span, and estimated snowfall — for ski trips and the perennial 'will there be snow at Christmas?' question.

Cranbrook averages about 57 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Sep 21 to May 27 — about 8.2 months.

January is snowiest, with roughly 11 days of snow and an estimated 42 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 233 cm of snow.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonJan 6
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan1242
Feb834
Mar933
Apr416
May13
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep01
Oct310
Nov1044
Dec1149

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.

In Cranbrook, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around June 18 and lasts for 4.2 months, ending around October 23. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 69% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 24 and lasts for 7.8 months, ending around June 17. The cloudiest month is March, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 72% of the time.

0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJul 27 · 77%Dec 14 · 27%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan2971
Feb3466
Mar2872
Apr3367
May3763
Jun4258
Jul6931
Aug6931
Sep6040
Oct4654
Nov3169
Dec2872

Daylight, sunrise and sunset

DaylightNight

Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.

The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. The longest day, around June 18, brings about 16 h 06 min of light; the shortest, around December 18, only 7 h 54 min — a swing of roughly 8 h 12 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan8.48:415:04
Feb9.88:045:51
Mar11.57:066:39
Apr13.45:597:28
May15.15:068:13
Jun16.04:428:44
Jul15.64:598:39
Aug14.25:407:54
Sep12.46:276:48
Oct10.57:135:43
Nov8.98:044:53
Dec8.08:404:38

Sunny days

How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.

Cranbrook averages about 8 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 4 and 17 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 3.8 months, from around Jun 27 to Oct 21. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 14 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is March, down near 4 sunny days — about 71% fewer than the July peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightJul 2817 daysMar 194 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan5Gloomy
Feb5Gloomy
Mar4Gloomy
Apr5Gloomy
May6Gloomy
Jun6Gloomy
Jul14Mixed
Aug15Mixed
Sep12Mixed
Oct8Mixed
Nov5Gloomy
Dec5Gloomy

Humidity comfort

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.

Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.

In Cranbrook, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in July, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 0% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdry
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul973
Aug991
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec1000

Wind

Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.

This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.

Wind in Cranbrook is steady company: average speeds sit near 5 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmApr 10 · 6 km/hDec 28 · 5 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan5calm
Feb5calm
Mar6calm
Apr6calm
May6calm
Jun6calm
Jul6calm
Aug5calm
Sep5calm
Oct5calm
Nov5calm
Dec5calm

Best time to visit Cranbrook

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Cranbrook throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.

Around early July, Cranbrook is still near the start of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds not yet at full swing.

Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.

The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 18°C and 28°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Cranbrook for general outdoor tourist activities is from late June to mid September, with a peak score in the third week of August.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 19 · 8.0

The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

Travel score (0–10)Rating
Jan0.0poor
Feb0.0poor
Mar0.3poor
Apr2.4poor
May4.7fair
Jun6.0good
Jul7.7ideal
Aug7.9ideal
Sep6.4good
Oct2.5poor
Nov0.0poor
Dec0.0poor

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Cranbrook for hot-weather activities is from early July to late August, with a peak score in the last week of July.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 31 · 7.4

The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

What to pack for Cranbrook, by month

EssentialRecommendedOptional

Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.

For a warm-season trip around July (highs near 24°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around December (highs near -3°C), pack a warm layer, a heavy coat and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Cranbrook sees daytime highs around 24°C and nights near 10°C. Pack sun protection. Worth having: light clothes. About 6 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Cranbrook by month

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Cranbrook peaks around July 17 at about 8 (very high) — sunscreen and a hat are worth it in the middle of the day. It bottoms out near December 18 at about 1 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 8 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateHighVery highHighModerateLowJul 17UV 8Dec 18UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb1Low
Mar4Moderate
Apr5High
May7High
Jun6High
Jul8Very high
Aug7High
Sep4Moderate
Oct3Moderate
Nov1Low
Dec1Low

Average hourly UV index in Cranbrook

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.

The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in July the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 4.5 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan00
Feb00
Mar30
Apr60
May7.53
Jun7.52.5
Jul8.54.5
Aug72.5
Sep4.50
Oct00
Nov00
Dec00

Air quality in Cranbrook by month

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see which months the air is worst, not just the yearly average.

Air quality in Cranbrook is worst in August — around 31 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 8.9× the cleanest month (January, 4 µg/m³).

Modeled monthly averages (CAMS reanalysis, 2015–2024).

010203040JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodGoodAug 2130 µg/m³Jan 114 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan4Good
Feb4Good
Mar5Good
Apr9Good
May9Good
Jun9Good
Jul17Moderate
Aug31Moderate
Sep27Moderate
Oct10Good
Nov13Moderate
Dec4Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayTypical season (≥50%)

The growing season in Cranbrook typically lasts about 179 days, from around April 22 to October 17 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from May 19 to September 25.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonFeb 2810%Apr 2250%May 1990%Sep 2590%Oct 1750%Nov 3010%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan731
Feb828
Mar1431
Apr4030
May8517
Jun990
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep955
Oct5431
Nov1930
Dec831

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 10°C)Frost-free shaded

Growing degree days tally heat above 10°C: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. Cranbrook banks about 610 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

0200400600800JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr0
May14
Jun96
Jul221
Aug217
Sep62
Oct0
Nov0
Dec0

Solar energy

Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.

Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.

Cranbrook receives about 3.9 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 1.0 and 7.0 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.0 months, from around Mar 24 to Sep 22. The brightest month is July, averaging about 6.9 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 1.0 kWh/m² — roughly 86% less than the July peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJul 147.0 kWhDec 181.0 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan1.2Dim
Feb2.3Moderate
Mar3.5Moderate
Apr5.1Bright
May6.2Intense
Jun6.5Intense
Jul7.0Intense
Aug6.0Intense
Sep4.3Bright
Oct2.6Moderate
Nov1.3Dim
Dec1.0Dim

Where is Cranbrook?

Cranbrook sits at 49.5°N, 115.8°W, 949 m above sea level, in Canada. The nearest listed city is Whitefish, 160 km away.

Topography around Cranbrook

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Cranbrook.

Within 3 km, the terrain around Cranbrook has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 279 m around an average of 990 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,451 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,762 m.

The land around Cranbrook is covered by trees (50%) and artificial surfaces (23%) within 3 km, trees (77%) within 16 km, and trees (82%) within 80 km.

3 km
279 m
16 km
1,451 m
80 km
2,762 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwatermoss and lichen
Nearby: Whitefish 160 km · Canmore 179 km · Kalispell 180 km · Okotoks 187 km · Banff 187 km · Evergreen 198 km · Cranston 200 km · Auburn Bay 201 km

Canada travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 1
Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs
Type A / B
120 V · 60 Hz
Prices
≈ 83% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$55,698
2025
Happiness
6.7 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
97%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
2
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
5.3
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
Religion
Christian 53%none 35%Muslim 5%Hindu 2%

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Cranbrook (49.4999°, -115.7688°, elevation 949 m), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).