Canada - weather in February

February is a winter month in Canada, and it is the coldest of the year in the maritime Arctic regions and on the eastern coasts (see New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador), while in the rest of the territory the coldest month is January.
The average temperatures are below freezing in almost all the territory, and the landscape is often covered in snow, except in the far west, on the coast of British Columbia (see Vancouver), overlooking the Pacific, where the climate is oceanic.
The north-central lakes, the Arctic Ocean and Hudson Bay are frozen. Even the Great Lakes in the south can freeze to a greater or lesser extent, depending on the temperature. Generally, the maximum extent of the ice is reached between the end of February and the beginning of March.
During cold spells, the temperature can drop to very low values, below -40 °C (-40 °F) in large areas of the center-north, below -30 °C (-22 °F) in the southern inland areas, and below -15 °C (5 °F) on the east coasts, while on the west coast, in Vancouver, it generally does not drop below -5 °C (23 °F), although it can occasionally reach -10 °C (14 °F).
On the other hand, the chinook, a mild, dry wind capable of melting snow, can blow on the eastern side of the mountains.
Precipitation (rain or snow) decreases slightly compared to January, actually, on average February is the least rainy month in Canada. However, precipitation is frequent in the south, in the area of the Great Lakes (see Toronto) and in Québec (see Montreal, Ottawa), and even more in the east, where cold air collides with Atlantic air masses (in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, see Saint John's, Halifax). In this area, snowfalls are abundant, however, sometimes, mild air from the south can raise the temperature above freezing and cause rain to fall instead of snow.
In the inland areas of the southwest, in the Great Prairies (see Edmonton, Calgary, Regina), precipitation is much scarcer. Even in the vast Arctic and Subarctic areas, in the provinces of Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut (see Alert, Inuvik, Yellowknife), light and frequent, but not abundant, snowfalls generally occur due to the cold.
Also on the coast of British Columbia (see Vancouver), the rains decrease slightly compared to January, however, they are frequent, while snowfalls are quite rare.




See also: Canada, the weather in January - March
The climate of Canada