Yellowknife in Summer
In summer (June, July and August), Yellowknife sees average daytime highs around 19°C and overnight lows near 11°C, with 107 mm of rain over about 22 wet days across the season. It is the warmest season of the year and the wettest season of the year.
Across summer, daytime highs hold fairly steady around 19°C. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 26% of the time across summer, and the air most often feels dry.
Summer is Yellowknife's best season of the year to visit on our travel score. For the whole year in context, see Yellowknife's year-round climate.
- Avg daytime high
- 19°C
- warmest season of the year
- Avg overnight low
- 11°C
- Rainfall
- 107 mm
- 22 wet days
- Avg wind
- 12 km/h
- Travel score
- 6.2
- best season of the year
- Months
- Jun · Jul · Aug
Temperature in Yellowknife in Summer
Across summer, daytime highs hold fairly steady around 19°C.
A typical summer day in Yellowknife reaches about 19°C and drops to 11°C overnight. The warmest of the three months is July, the coolest June.
How summer really feels in Yellowknife
Once humidity and wind are folded in, summer brings about 0 days that feel above 32°C and 0 that feel at or below 0°C.
summer sits comfortably in between — no days that feel dangerously hot or drop to a hard freeze once humidity and wind are folded in.
Yellowknife weather by month
How the three summer months (June, July and August) 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 | -22° / -28° | 10 | 3.4 | 4.4 | 5.6 | 0.0 |
| Feb | -19° / -26° | 6 | 2.1 | 2.8 | 8.2 | 0.0 |
| Mar | -12° / -21° | 10 | 3.2 | 4.2 | 11.3 | 0.0 |
| Apr | -1° / -11° | 11 | 3.1 | 2.5 | 14.4 | 0.0 |
| May | 10° / 0° | 19 | 4.6 | 1.4 | 17.4 | 2.5 |
| Jun | 18° / 8° | 25 | 5.3 | 0 | 19.3 | 6.2 |
| Jul | 21° / 13° | 37 | 7.3 | 0 | 18.5 | 6.8 |
| Aug | 18° / 11° | 46 | 9.2 | 0 | 15.8 | 5.7 |
| Sep | 11° / 5° | 40 | 8.2 | 0.5 | 12.6 | 2.5 |
| Oct | 1° / -3° | 24 | 6.4 | 4.3 | 9.5 | 0.0 |
| Nov | -10° / -16° | 15 | 4.6 | 6 | 6.5 | 0.0 |
| Dec | -18° / -24° | 10 | 3.4 | 4.5 | 4.7 | 0.0 |
Cloud cover in Summer
The sky is clear or mostly clear about 26% of the time across summer.
Chance of precipitation in Summer
Yellowknife gets around 107 mm of rain over 22 wet days across summer. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.
Humidity in Summer
Most of summer feels dry — the stacked bands show each day's mix of comfort levels, read off the dew point.
Wind in Summer
Winds average 12 km/h across summer.
Sunrise & sunset in Summer
Daylight runs from about 18 h 42 min in early June to 14 h 12 min by late August. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.
Solar energy in Summer
Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day across summer, about 5.4 kWh/m².
Is summer a good time to visit Yellowknife?
Our two travel scores rate summer for general sightseeing and for beach or pool weather — 0 (poor) to 10 (ideal), averaged across the three months.
summer is a reasonable time to visit Yellowknife for sightseeing.
What to pack for Yellowknife in Summer
From summer's temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind — what's worth putting in the bag.
In summer, Yellowknife sees daytime highs around 19°C and nights near 11°C. Pack sun protection. Worth having: rain gear. About 22 days see rain.
UV index in Yellowknife in Summer
Clear-sky midday UV across summer averages around 4 — enough to warrant sun protection. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.
Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Yellowknife peaks around June 15 at about 4 (moderate) — a little sun protection helps at midday. It bottoms out near January 1 at about 0 (low).
The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 4 months of the year.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UV index (midday) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Level | Low | Low | Low | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Low | Low | Low | Low |
| UV index (midday) | Level | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 0 | Low |
| Feb | 1 | Low |
| Mar | 1 | Low |
| Apr | 3 | Moderate |
| May | 4 | Moderate |
| Jun | 4 | Moderate |
| Jul | 4 | Moderate |
| Aug | 3 | Moderate |
| Sep | 2 | Low |
| Oct | 1 | Low |
| Nov | 0 | Low |
| Dec | 0 | Low |
Air quality in Yellowknife in Summer
Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see where summer falls, not just the annual average.
Air quality in Yellowknife is worst in August — around 22 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 224.0× the cleanest month (January, 0 µg/m³).
Seasonal pattern from CAMS reanalysis, scaled to Yellowknife's WHO annual average of 4 µg/m³.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PM2.5 (µg/m³) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 22 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Level | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Moderate | Moderate | Good | Good | Good | Good |
| PM2.5 (µg/m³) | Level | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 0 | Good |
| Feb | 0 | Good |
| Mar | 1 | Good |
| Apr | 2 | Good |
| May | 2 | Good |
| Jun | 4 | Good |
| Jul | 13 | Moderate |
| Aug | 22 | Moderate |
| Sep | 3 | Good |
| Oct | 0 | Good |
| Nov | 0 | Good |
| Dec | 0 | Good |
Where is Yellowknife?
Yellowknife sits at 62.5°N, 114.4°W, 252 m above sea level, in Canada. The nearest listed city is Fort McMurray, 659 km away.
Topography around Yellowknife
How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Yellowknife.
Within 3 km, the terrain around Yellowknife has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 56 m around an average of 180 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 97 m; within 80 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 220 m.
The land around Yellowknife is covered by trees (43%) and water (31%) within 3 km, trees (60%) and water (29%) within 16 km, and trees (50%) and water (40%) 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 Yellowknife (62.4541°, -114.3725°, elevation 252 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.