THE CLIMATIC
REGIONS OF
CANADA
KEY DEFINITIONS:
Weather: is the day to day condition of
the atmosphere. This includes temperature,
rainfall and wind.
Climate: is the average weather condition
of a place, usually measured over one year.
This includes temperature and rainfall.
ARCTIC CLIMATE REGION
Has a very harsh climate; the
summer is very short and cool plus
in the most northerly locations
winter lasts as long as ten months.
Precipitation is low because the
Arctic Ocean and other bodies of
water are frozen for most of the
year, and there is very little
evaporation.
This region includes most of Yukon,
the Northwest Territories and
Nunavut.
PACIFIC MARITIME REGION
The Pacific Maritime region lies
along British Columbia's coast and
its border with Alaska.
Being so close to the Pacific Ocean,
the climate is extremely altered.
Summers are cooler, winters more
mild.
Relief precipitation along the coast
is very high, especially in winter
when the polar-front jet stream
moves southward allowing moist
Pacific winds to reach this area.
CORDILLERAN CLIMATE REGION
The climate found in this area varies greatly
because of the mountains. Coastal
temperatures tend to be warmer than those
inland, and northern climates are cooler than
southern climates. Winters can last up to 8
months in the northern part of the region.
Locations only a few kilometres apart may
have very different temperatures and
precipitation patterns.
West facing windward slopes receive a great
deal of relief precipitation while leeward
slopes and interior valleys are dry because
of rain shadow conditions.
This region includes British Columbia and
parts of Yukon.
TAIGA CLIMATE REGION
Long, severe winters (up to six months
with mean temperatures below freezing)
and short summers (50 to 100 frost-free
days), as is a wide range of temperatures
between the lows of winter and highs of
summer.
Precipitation occurs mainly in the summer
from convectional precipitation.
BOREAL CLIMATE REGION
This region forms a continuous
belt from Newfoundland and
Labrador west to the Rocky
Mountains and north to Alaska.
This has a continental climate,
where winters are cold and
summers are warm.
In the summer, convectional
precipitation also occurs when
the land heats up.
PRAIRIE CLIMATE REGION
It is a continental climate and the
Prairie Provinces comprise the
provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan,
and Manitoba, as they are much
covered by prairie.
Winters are very cold and summers
are very hot.
It is quite dry in this region because
it is in the rain shadow of the
western Cordillera.
SOUTH-EASTERN CLIMATE REGION
This area has both continental and
maritime characteristics although most
of the region has a continental climate
with a wide range of temperature.
The prevailing winds bring storms
from the west and storms from the
south move up from the Gulf of
Mexico. The slight summer maximum
is due to convectional precipitation.
This region includes Ontario and
Quebec also parts of Nova Scotia and
New Brunswick.
ATLANTIC MARITIME CLIMATE
REGION
The winters are neither as cold, nor
the summers as hot as continental
locations, because the Atlantic
Ocean moderates the
temperatures.
This includes New Brunswick, Nova
Scotia, Prince Edward Island and
southeastern Quebec.
The Atlantic Ocean and its currents
have created a cool and humid
maritime climate.
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