Weather in Jasper in December

The month to avoid. Of the twelve, December is the one to avoid. Highs sit at -4.1 °C and the day is short; this is an indoors-with-excursions month, not an outdoors-all-day one.

December ranks 8 of 12 in Jasper: past the worst of the year but short of August, which is the month to book if the dates are open.

Rain on 9 days, 0 of them heavy. Enough to need a plan B, not enough to need a plan around it. Layers, and a genuinely waterproof outer — at -4.1 °C the difference between a good day and a miserable one is entirely down to what you are wearing.

What the averages hide

Averages flatten a month, and this one hides a few things: 31 nights drop below freezing, so anything left outside stays frozen. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest December day reached 6.7 °C and the coldest night fell to -32.3 °C.

December is statistically steady but not small: the year-to-year variation is modest in relative terms, yet the wettest December on record still delivered 51 mm against 14 mm in the driest. In a month this wet, even a tame spread is a lot of rain in absolute terms — the 29 mm average is a reasonable planning figure, not a promise.

Wind is light at 1.6 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity runs at 94%, which at -4.1 °C means damp rather than muggy — the kind of cold that gets into a coat and stays there.

How December sits in the year

This is a turning point in the year — November and January sit on opposite sides of it, so the month contains the change rather than following it.

Daylight in December

December sits at the dark end of Jasper's year — 7.6 hours of daylight against 16.9 at midsummer, losing 0.4 hours across the month. Sightseeing days are genuinely shorter, and an itinerary built for summer will not fit.

An inland climate

With no coast nearby, the year swings a fair way — 33.4 °C between the warmest afternoons and the coldest nights, wider than any coastal city at this latitude would manage. At 1062 m the air is thin enough to matter — sun that burns faster than the temperature suggests, and nights that cool off quickly.

How busy it gets

Quiet. Few other visitors, cheaper rooms, and a real chance some seasonal operators are shut.

Crowd levels are estimated from climate desirability and school-holiday calendars, not from visitor numbers.

December in Jasper versus nearby

If Jasper is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Banff is close enough to be a coin toss — 2 °C cooler, 5 days more rain. Edmonton is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 3 days less rain.

So: December is a compromise. August is 49 points better and is what Jasper is actually like at its best — worth moving the trip for if that is possible, and worth adjusting expectations for if it is not.

Every month in Jasper

See all twelve months in Jasper, or where else to go in December.