Editing Iqaluit (section)

=== Climate ===
[[File:October nights in the Arctic (2).jpg|thumb|left|Iqaluit has a [[tundra climate]], featuring long, cold winters, and brief summers that are too cool to permit the growth of large trees.]]
Iqaluit has a [[Tundra#Climatic classification|tundra climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification|Köppen]]: ''ET'', [[Trewartha climate classification|Trewartha]]: ''Ftkd'') typical of the Arctic region, although it is well outside the [[Arctic Circle]]. The city features long, cold winters and brief, cool summers. Average monthly temperatures are below freezing for eight months of the year.<ref name="ccnYFB"/> Iqaluit averages just over {{cvt|400|mm}} of precipitation annually, much wetter than many other localities in the [[Arctic Archipelago]], with the summer being the wettest season. Temperatures of the winter months are comparable to other northern communities further west on the continent such as [[Yellowknife]] and to some extent even [[Fairbanks, Alaska]], even though Iqaluit is a few degrees colder than the latter. Summer temperatures are, however, much colder due to its easterly maritime position affected by the waters of the cold [[Baffin Island Current]]. This means that the [[tree line]] is much further south in the eastern part of Canada, being as southbound, in spite of low elevation, as northern [[Labrador]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ece.gov.nt.ca/files/K-12/Curriculum/social-studies/circumpolar-world/maps/C2-Map-Page-17-The-Treeline-in-Canada.pdf |title=The Treeline in Canada |publisher=NWT Department of Education, Culture and Employment |access-date=10 February 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150210030744/http://www.ece.gov.nt.ca/files/K-12/Curriculum/social-studies/circumpolar-world/maps/C2-Map-Page-17-The-Treeline-in-Canada.pdf |archive-date=10 February 2015}}</ref>

Although it is north of the natural tree line, there are some short, south-facing imported [[Picea mariana|black spruce]] (''Picea mariana'') specimens protected by [[snowdrift]]s in the winter,<ref>{{cite news |last=Edgar |first=Courtney |date=11 December 2018 |title=Christmas trees can grow in Iqaluit |url=https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/christmas-trees-can-grow-in-iqaluit/ |work=Nunatsiaq News |publisher=Nortext Publishing Corporation |access-date=26 April 2020 |archive-date=16 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200116031905/https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/christmas-trees-can-grow-in-iqaluit/ |url-status=live}}</ref> in addition to a few [[shrub]]s, which are [[woody plant]]s. These include the [[Salix arctica|Arctic willow]] (''Salix arctica''). The Arctic willow may be up to around {{cvt|25|ft|order=flip}} horizontally, but only {{cvt|6|in|order=flip}} tall.

The climate of Iqaluit is also colder than [[Gulf Stream]] locations on the same latitude. For example, the Norwegian city of [[Trondheim#Climate|Trondheim]] has an annual mean temperature that is {{cvt|15.2|C-change}} milder.

The lowest temperature ever recorded was {{cvt|-45.6|C}} on 10 February 1967.<ref name="ccnYFB"/> The highest temperature ever recorded in Iqaluit was {{cvt|26.8|C}} on 21 July 2008.<ref name=ccnCYFB2020/>

Iqaluit's climate is changing. In 1979, the mean temperature was {{cvt|-9.0|C}}, but in 2023, it was {{cvt|-6.8|C}}. Furthermore, during the first 23 years of that period, there were 14 years which displayed a negative temperature anomaly and 9 which displayed a positive one, whereas in the second 23 years, there were only 3 negative and 20 positive temperature anomaly years.<ref>{{Cite web
 | title = Climate Change: Iqaluit, Canada
 | url = https://www.meteoblue.com/en/climate-change/iqaluit_canada_5983720
 | website = meteoblue
 | access-date = 6 January 2025
}}
</ref>

{{Iqaluit weatherbox}}