Climate averages 1991–2020
Nanaimo weather
in December.
A cold, very wet month: the coolest and the 10th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
December is a cold month in Nanaimo: daytime highs average 5.6°C and nights cool to about 2.0°C. By daytime temperature it is the coolest month of the year.
Expect about 247 mm of rain on roughly 19 days, which makes December a very wet month (the 10th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 8 h 18 min on an average December day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Vancouver (60 km away). In December its highs average 5.1°C, about as warm as Nanaimo, with 307 mm of rain.
Among the 86 cities listed in Canada, Nanaimo ranks 3rd of 86 for the warmest December highs and 79th of 86 for the driest December (rainfall, lowest first). The mean December high of those 86 cities is 0.2°C; Nanaimo is 5.4°C warmer than that mean.
From December to January, average highs rise by 0.3°C to 5.9°C, and monthly rainfall rises from 247 mm to 253 mm.
The annual picture
December in context
Monthly rainfall
Average total · mmAverages from hourly ERA5 reanalysis data. Actual weather varies from year to year. How these numbers are calculated
Every month, side by side
Nanaimo climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.9°C2.0°C | 2.0°C | 253 | 18.5 | 8.79 h |
| February | 6.9°C2.2°C | 2.2°C | 150 | 14.8 | 10.110 h |
| March | 8.9°C3.5°C | 3.5°C | 178 | 17.6 | 11.912 h |
| April | 11.9°C5.8°C | 5.8°C | 123 | 15.2 | 13.714 h |
| May | 16.1°C9.5°C | 9.5°C | 85 | 12.1 | 15.315 h |
| June | 18.8°C12.4°C | 12.4°C | 69 | 10.6 | 16.116 h |
| July | 22.1°C15.1°C | 15.1°C | 43 | 7.3 | 15.816 h |
| August | 22.3°C15.3°C | 15.3°C | 54 | 6.3 | 14.414 h |
| September | 18.8°C12.5°C | 12.5°C | 86 | 9.3 | 12.713 h |
| October | 13.1°C8.2°C | 8.2°C | 177 | 15.2 | 10.811 h |
| November | 8.4°C4.4°C | 4.4°C | 264 | 18.7 | 9.29 h |
| December, selected | 5.6°C2.0°C | 2.0°C | 247 | 18.6 | 8.38 h |
Rainfall is the average of the 30 separate monthly totals. A rain day is a local calendar day with at least 1 mm of precipitation. Daylight is the calculated sunrise-to-sunset length, not measured sunshine.
Compare places
December in nearby cities
- Vancouver in DecemberCanada · 60 kmHigh 5.1°C · Low 1.3°C · 307 mm rain
- Delta in DecemberCanada · 65 kmHigh 5.7°C · Low 1.4°C · 198 mm rain
- North Vancouver in DecemberCanada · 65 kmHigh 5.1°C · Low 1.2°C · 307 mm rain
- Burnaby in DecemberCanada · 73 kmHigh 5.0°C · Low 0.9°C · 307 mm rain
- New Westminster in DecemberCanada · 75 kmHigh 4.6°C · Low -0.4°C · 307 mm rain
- Surrey in DecemberCanada · 81 kmHigh 4.8°C · Low 0.0°C · 212 mm rain
- Coquitlam in DecemberCanada · 85 kmHigh 4.8°C · Low 0.4°C · 330 mm rain
- Victoria in DecemberCanada · 92 kmHigh 6.2°C · Low 3.2°C · 138 mm rain
Read the numbers correctly
Climate, not a promise.
These patterns help compare months. They cannot tell you the weather on a specific day of your trip.
Sources, method and limitsHow these numbers are made (what the highs, lows and rain days mean, the sources and the model cell used for Nanaimo) is explained once on the Nanaimo year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.