Wells Gray Weather

Wells Gray Country's weather blends a great variety of conditions, depending mainly on the season. The area is situated in the transition-zone between the desert-like South Okanagan and the wetter and more variable conditions of the higher mountains to the north: this means that if a weather phenomenon happens in BC, the odds are it happens here!

(We have provided a link to current conditions here)

Summer begins properly in mid June: while there are often warm days in May, June is generally more consistent. Temperatures are most often in the low- to mid-20ºs C (low- to mid- 70ºs F): showers blow through from time to time. The rivers are beginning to calm down after their meltwater spate, and the snow generally clears from most alpine areas by the Summer Solstice on the 21st.

July and August are when things really begin to heat up: big high-pressure systems often sit over the Interior of BC, resulting in long spells of hot, dry weather. This is a good time to be up in the hills or out on a lake! Temperatures might sit in the mid- to high-30ºs C (high 80ºs to low 90ºs F) for days and even weeks at a time: humidity is generally low, but thundershowers are frequent in the early evenings.

September usually sees a return to more moderate conditions, similar to those in June. This is for many their favourite time to visit: the water is at its warmest, rainfall is least likely, there are fewer people about once the schools start again, and the changing colours of birch and aspen on the hillsides light-up the valleys. These conditions sometimes continue right through into October.

Typical Fall weather is cool, breezy and sometimes damp: there may be a month or two of these conditions before winter begins to get a grip. Whilst snow is possible in the mountains through most of the summer, the first for the valley might fall in October, November or even into December.

Winter weather depends greatly on which of two systems becomes dominant: the warm, moist south-westerly flows from the Coast, or the cold, dry arctic high pressure from the north. The former tends to bring the 'Hawaiian Express', warm winds which often bring the temperature to several degrees above freezing: the latter is more likely to set-in with temperatures ranging from -10º through -15º and -25º C (14º, 5º and -13º F). Most often, though, temperatures are expected to sit around the -5º C (23º F) mark. The snowpack ranges from less than 1m (2-3ft) in the lowest valleys, to somewhere between 2m (6½ft) or 4m (13ft) in the mountains.

The snow generally clears from the valley by late March to mid-April, although the ski-touring up in the hills is usually good right through May. The rivers begin to swell and spate at this time, peaking in early June. Spring weather brings showers and variable skies, with temperatures ranging from around 12º C (mid-50ºs F) up into the low 20ºs C (low 70ºs F) from time to time - and so the cycle begins again!