Iqaluit weather by month & the best time to visit
🇨🇦 Canada · seaside town · subarctic climate
Iqaluit is short on reliable sunshine. Its best month is July (Score 37/100) — for stronger sun, try one of the nearby alternatives below.
Jump to: month-by-month table · sea temperature · nearby alternatives · embed this data
- Sun hours / year
- 1,936
- Sunniest month
- July
- Peak score
- 37/100
- Rain / year
- 647 mm
- Snow / year
- ≈2.9 m
- Midday UV at peak
- 3 (moderate)
- Sea at warmest
- 6°C / 43°F
- Population
- 7k
- Elevation
- 27 m
When is the best time to visit Iqaluit?
Iqaluit never gets truly sunny weather: July is as good as it gets at 37/100, and January is the low point (0/100). If sunshine is the point of the trip, the nearby alternatives below do better.
How sunny is Iqaluit?
Iqaluit gets a moderate 1,936 hours of sunshine a year. July (37/100) is noticeably better than January (0). It ranks #155 of 242 destinations in Canada for annual sunshine, below the national median of 2,024 hours. Rain has a clear season: the wettest stretch, around August, carries about 41% of the annual 647 mm.
Sunshine Score by month
| Month | Score | Day high | Night low | Rain | UV | Sea |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0 | -23° / -9°F | -29° / -20°F | 20 mm | 0 | -2° / 28°F |
| February | 0 | -21° / -6°F | -29° / -20°F | 18 mm | 0 | -2° / 28°F |
| March | 0 | -15° / 5°F | -25° / -13°F | 29 mm | 1 | -2° / 28°F |
| April | 0 | -6° / 21°F | -16° / 3°F | 40 mm | 3 | -2° / 28°F |
| May | 0 | 1° / 34°F | -6° / 21°F | 53 mm | 3 | -1° / 30°F |
| June | 0 | 8° / 46°F | 2° / 36°F | 78 mm | 3 | 1° / 34°F |
| July | 37 | 14° / 57°F | 6° / 43°F | 88 mm | 3 | 5° / 41°F |
| August | 24 | 12° / 54°F | 5° / 41°F | 91 mm | 2 | 6° / 43°F |
| September | 0 | 5° / 41°F | -1° / 30°F | 88 mm | 1 | 4° / 39°F |
| October | 0 | -2° / 28°F | -8° / 18°F | 63 mm | 0 | 1° / 34°F |
| November | 0 | -10° / 14°F | -16° / 3°F | 48 mm | 0 | -1° / 30°F |
| December | 0 | -17° / 1°F | -23° / -9°F | 31 mm | 0 | -2° / 28°F |
Sea temperature in Iqaluit by month
The sea off Iqaluit is warmest in August at around 6°C / 43°F, and coolest in January at -2°C / 28°F. It never reaches comfortable swimming temperatures (21°C+). Month-by-month sea-surface temperatures are in the Sea column of the table above.
See Iqaluit on the interactive sunshine globe →
Nearby places for sunshine
- Nuuk Greenland · 822 km · best in Jan · 1,885 h sun/yr
- Ilulissat Greenland · 981 km · best in Jul · 2,313 h sun/yr
- Goose Bay Canada · 1,250 km · best in Jul · 1,776 h sun/yr
- Sept-Îles Canada · 1,511 km · best in Aug · 1,867 h sun/yr
- Quebec Canada · 1,895 km · best in Aug · 1,920 h sun/yr
- Charlottetown Canada · 1,971 km · best in Jul · 1,705 h sun/yr
Nearest destinations
- Kimmirut Canada · 121 km · 1,975 h sun/yr · best in Jul
- Kangiqsujuaq Canada · 296 km · 1,928 h sun/yr · best in Jul
- Pangnirtung Canada · 297 km · 2,857 h sun/yr · best in Jul
- Quaqtaq Canada · 306 km · 2,162 h sun/yr · best in Jan
- Kinngait Canada · 392 km · 1,904 h sun/yr · best in Jan
Head-to-head
How Iqaluit compares month by month: Iqaluit vs Nuuk · Iqaluit vs Goose Bay · Iqaluit vs Ilulissat · all comparisons
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