Weather in Whistler in December

The month to avoid. December is the month most people should skip in Whistler. Highs sit at 0.2 °C and the day is short; this is an indoors-with-excursions month, not an outdoors-all-day one.

December ranks 12 of 12 — near the bottom of Whistler's year. July is the month that works, and the swing between the two is 76 points, which is a different holiday rather than a slightly better one.

Rain on 20 of the month's 31 days, 9 of them heavy. At that frequency a wet-weather backup is not a contingency, it is the itinerary — book the indoor things first and treat the clear days as the bonus. Layers, and a genuinely waterproof outer — at 0.2 °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: 25 nights drop below freezing, so anything left outside stays frozen. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest December day reached 7.7 °C and the coldest night fell to -28.7 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 101 mm — roughly 42% of the month's rain in one day.

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 362 mm against 93 mm in the driest. In a month this wet, even a tame spread is a lot of rain in absolute terms — the 243 mm average is a reasonable planning figure, not a promise.

Wind is light at 1.9 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity runs at 96%, which at 0.2 °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 Whistler's year — 8.1 hours of daylight against 16.4 at midsummer, holding steady all 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 — 28.6 °C between the warmest afternoons and the coldest nights, wider than any coastal city at this latitude would manage.

How busy it gets

Off season. The genuine off season: cheapest by a distance, with the caveat that some tours and restaurants close entirely.

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

December in Whistler versus nearby

If Whistler is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Vancouver is a better bet in December — 4 °C warmer, 1 day more rain. Maple Ridge is a better bet in December — 5.1 °C warmer, 1 day more rain.

So: December is a compromise. July is 76 points better and is what Whistler 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 Whistler

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