CanadaCanadian Arctic ArchipelagoIsland
Melville Island
42,149 km² rising to 776 m out of the Viscount Melville Sound.
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
42,149km²
Area
2,653km
Coastline
measured on a simplified outline
776m
Highest point
0
People
0°C
Warmest sea
August
407km
To the mainland
When to go to Melville Island
Best to visit from December to April.
The sea is warmest in August (0 °C) and coolest in January (-2 °C). The water never reaches 21 °C: bring a wetsuit.
Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.
Island in the Northwest Territories, Canada
Melville Island is an island in Canada. It belongs to Canadian Arctic Archipelago. It covers 42,149 km², with 2,653 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 776 m. Nobody lives on it. The nearest mainland is 407 km away.
Getting there
- 407 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From December to Aprilbest months to go (from 30 years of averages)
Plan the trip
Ferries, stays and things to do
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On the island
What you find on Melville Island.
- 526beaches
- 2lighthouses
- 84named peaksMelville Island H.P., Mount Grey, West Hill and 81 more
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, inside the island's outline. A low number may only mean nobody has mapped it yet.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Melville Island in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Melville Island, each with its own numbers.
2beaches and covesCoastya
2lakesLakeyas
Largest lake
3.2km²
Polynia Lake
according to Lakeyas
Beach with the warmest sea
0.1°C
Comfort Cove
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
2 lakes
on Lakeyas, the lake atlas
- Polynia Lake3.2km²
- Tingmisut Lake2.0km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
Size, for real
Next to islands you may know.
200 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | -27 | -28 | -24 | -16 | -5 | 3 | 6 | 3 | -4 | -14 | -21 | -25 |
| Night low (°C) | -32 | -32 | -30 | -21 | -10 | 0 | 2 | -1 | -8 | -17 | -25 | -30 |
| Sea (°C) | -2 | -2 | -2 | -2 | -2 | -1 | -1 | 0 | -1 | -1 | -2 | -2 |
| Rain (mm) | 14 | 12 | 15 | 16 | 22 | 35 | 49 | 42 | 31 | 27 | 18 | 16 |
| Wet days | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 4 |
| Sun h/day | — | 0.3 | 3.1 | 10.6 | 10.7 | 10.2 | 6.9 | 4.0 | 1.9 | 0.5 | — | — |
| Wind (km/h) | 20 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 19 |
Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.
Recent years
Warmer and cooler years at sea.
Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | +0.4 | +0.4 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.2 | −0.2 | −0.5 | −0.7 | −0.4 | ±0.0 | +0.3 | +0.4 |
| 2021 | +0.4 | +0.4 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.2 | −0.2 | −0.6 | −0.8 | −0.5 | ±0.0 | +0.3 | +0.4 |
| 2022 | +0.4 | +0.4 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.2 | −0.2 | −0.5 | −0.7 | −0.3 | ±0.0 | +0.3 | +0.4 |
| 2023 | +0.4 | +0.4 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.2 | −0.2 | −0.4 | −0.1 | ±0.0 | +0.1 | +0.4 | +0.4 |
| 2024 | +0.4 | +0.4 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.2 | −0.2 | −0.5 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | +0.2 | +0.4 | +0.4 |
| 2025 | +0.4 | +0.4 | +0.3 | +0.3 | +0.3 | −0.1 | −0.4 | −0.5 | −0.3 | +0.2 | +0.5 | +0.5 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
Eglinton IslandCanada1,535 km²226 m196 km away
Byam Martin IslandCanada1,158 km²157 m205 km away
Prince Patrick IslandCanada15,848 km²254 m254 km away
Île VanierCanada1,118 km²200 m236 km away
Cameron IslandCanada1,052 km²184 m234 km away
Mackenzie King IslandCanada5,048 km²121 m251 km away
Alexander IslandCanada484 km²180 m247 km away
Lougheed IslandCanada1,313 km²122 m272 km awayAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q134116) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Outline | Natural Earth · public domain |
| Sea temperature | NOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020 |
| Climate | NASA POWER · 1991–2020 |
| Relief, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Towns | GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfalls | Coastya, Lakeyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST; HydroLAKES (Messager et al. 2016) · CC BY 4.0, LakeTEMP (Korver et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0 |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
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