Fort St. John in Winter
In winter (December, January and February), Fort St. John sees average daytime highs around -8°C and overnight lows near -16°C, with 63 mm of precipitation over about 17 wet days across the season. It is the coldest season of the year and the driest season of the year.
Over the season highs climb from about -7°C in early December to -4°C by late February. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 22% of the time across winter, and the air most often feels dry.
Winter is Fort St. John's weakest season of the year to visit on our travel score. For the whole year in context, see Fort St. John's year-round climate.
- Avg daytime high
- -8°C
- coldest season of the year
- Avg overnight low
- -16°C
- Precipitation
- 63 mm
- 17 wet days
- Avg wind
- 9 km/h
- Travel score
- 0.0
- weakest season of the year
- Months
- Dec · Jan · Feb
Temperature in Fort St. John in Winter
Over the season highs climb from about -7°C in early December to -4°C by late February.
A typical winter day in Fort St. John reaches about -8°C and drops to -16°C overnight. The warmest of the three months is February, the coolest January.
How winter really feels in Fort St. John
Once humidity and wind are folded in, winter brings about 0 days that feel above 32°C and 90 that feel at or below 0°C.
The story in winter is cold — wind chill drags the overnight "feels like" below the raw low.
Fort St. John weather by month
How the three winter months (December, January and February) compare with the rest of the year — the season's months are highlighted.
| Month | High / Low (°C) | Rainfall (mm) | Wet days | Snow days | Daylight (hours) | Travel score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | -9° / -17° | 25 | 7.1 | 7.6 | 7.3 | 0.0 |
| Feb | -6° / -14° | 16 | 4.5 | 5.3 | 9.1 | 0.0 |
| Mar | -0° / -10° | 23 | 6.6 | 7.1 | 11.4 | 0.0 |
| Apr | 9° / -2° | 25 | 5.7 | 3.4 | 13.8 | 1.8 |
| May | 16° / 4° | 40 | 8.2 | 1.1 | 16 | 5.1 |
| Jun | 20° / 8° | 75 | 10.9 | 0 | 17.3 | 6.0 |
| Jul | 22° / 10° | 80 | 11.3 | 0 | 16.8 | 6.4 |
| Aug | 21° / 9° | 47 | 8.6 | 0 | 14.9 | 6.6 |
| Sep | 15° / 5° | 43 | 8.1 | 0.5 | 12.5 | 4.8 |
| Oct | 7° / -1° | 33 | 7.3 | 3.7 | 10.1 | 1.2 |
| Nov | -3° / -10° | 31 | 7.4 | 7.3 | 7.9 | 0.0 |
| Dec | -8° / -15° | 23 | 5.6 | 6.4 | 6.7 | 0.0 |
Cloud cover in Winter
The sky is clear or mostly clear about 22% of the time across winter.
Chance of precipitation in Winter
Fort St. John gets around 63 mm of rain and snow over 17 wet days across winter. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.
Humidity in Winter
Most of winter feels dry — the stacked bands show each day's mix of comfort levels, read off the dew point.
Wind in Winter
Winds average 9 km/h across winter.
Sunrise & sunset in Winter
Daylight runs from about 7 h 06 min in early December to 10 h 06 min by late February. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.
Solar energy in Winter
Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day across winter, about 1.0 kWh/m².
Is winter a good time to visit Fort St. John?
Our two travel scores rate winter for general sightseeing and for beach or pool weather — 0 (poor) to 10 (ideal), averaged across the three months.
winter is a weaker month for outdoor sightseeing in Fort St. John.
What to pack for Fort St. John in Winter
From winter's temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind — what's worth putting in the bag.
In winter, Fort St. John sees daytime highs around -8°C and nights near -16°C. Pack a warm layer and a heavy coat. About 17 days see rain.
UV index in Fort St. John in Winter
Clear-sky midday UV across winter averages around 0. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.
Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Fort St. John peaks around July 13 at about 7 (high) — sunscreen and a hat are worth it in the middle of the day. It bottoms out near December 19 at about 0 (low).
The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 5 months of the year.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UV index (midday) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Level | Low | Low | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | High | High | Moderate | Moderate | Low | Low | Low |
| UV index (midday) | Level | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 0 | Low |
| Feb | 1 | Low |
| Mar | 2 | Moderate |
| Apr | 3 | Moderate |
| May | 4 | Moderate |
| Jun | 6 | High |
| Jul | 7 | High |
| Aug | 4 | Moderate |
| Sep | 3 | Moderate |
| Oct | 1 | Low |
| Nov | 1 | Low |
| Dec | 0 | Low |
Air quality in Fort St. John in Winter
Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see where winter falls, not just the annual average.
Air quality in Fort St. John is worst in May — around 22 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 5.3× the cleanest month (March, 4 µg/m³).
Seasonal pattern from CAMS reanalysis, scaled to Fort St. John's WHO annual average of 9 µg/m³.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PM2.5 (µg/m³) | 7 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 22 | 8 | 12 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 12 | 11 |
| Level | Good | Good | Good | Good | Moderate | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good |
| PM2.5 (µg/m³) | Level | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 7 | Good |
| Feb | 5 | Good |
| Mar | 4 | Good |
| Apr | 6 | Good |
| May | 22 | Moderate |
| Jun | 8 | Good |
| Jul | 12 | Good |
| Aug | 9 | Good |
| Sep | 6 | Good |
| Oct | 7 | Good |
| Nov | 12 | Good |
| Dec | 11 | Good |
Where is Fort St. John?
Fort St. John sits at 56.2°N, 120.9°W, 696 m above sea level, in Canada. The nearest listed city is Grande Prairie, 176 km away.
Topography around Fort St. John
How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Fort St. John.
Within 3 km, the terrain around Fort St. John has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 126 m around an average of 685 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 466 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 963 m.
The land around Fort St. John is covered by artificial surfaces (32%), trees (26%) and grassland (25%) within 3 km, trees (50%) and grassland (24%) within 16 km, and trees (67%) and grassland (20%) within 80 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
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 Fort St. John (56.2499°, -120.8529°, elevation 696 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.