PoolWindow

Pool season · Washington

Vancouver Pool Season: the Year on One Bar

Last updated: July 25, 2026 · dates · water temp

One bar, one year, one Vancouver pool. The season bar below draws everything the model knows — opening window, prime season, closing window — against today's date, with the working details one click away on the opening and closing pages.

Cool blue pool in a short-season northern climateVancouver, WA — 52 swim days a year
J F M A M J J A S O N D today (build date)

off-season opening window swim season closing window

The bar compresses Vancouver's whole pool year into one lane rope: gray floats for the off-season, hollow teal for the May 12–June 2 opening window, solid teal for swim weeks, hollow amber for the closing stretch that ends October 5. Wherever the today marker sits, the nearest color change is your next appointment.

The Vancouver pool calendar

May 19open by
October 5close by
5280°F+ days
70°Fwater peak

Opening — target May 19

Target May 19; the practical window runs May 12–June 2, and the 7-day mean crosses the 61°F threshold around June 2. Cold-water starts are the cheap ones.

Full opening guide

Closing — deadline October 5

The window opens September 25 once water leaves the algae zone; the model deadline is October 5, a week ahead of the November 9 freeze normal.

Full closing guide

Where the water sits today

SEASONAL VIEW

Estimated unheated pool water temp (site model, ±5°F). The live estimate loads in your browser from Open-Meteo air temperatures; in a typical year Vancouver water runs about 40°F at its winter floor and 70°F at its summer peak.

40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 58 open 65 algae

Estimated water temperature by month

Monthly averages of the site's water model run on Vancouver's own normals — the shape of a typical year, not a forecast. The widget above shows where the current year actually sits.

30°40°50°60°70°80°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec65° algae zone58° swimmable startopen May 19close Oct 570°F peak40°F floor
Site-model seasonal water estimates for an unheated in-ground pool near Vancouver Pearson Airport — ±5°F, see methodology.
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
40°42°45°50°55°61°67°70°67°59°50°43°

The curve peaks near 70°F — comfortable-water months here usually involve a heater or a solar cover.

Every station tells its own story: compare this curve with Tacoma's pool season and Wenatchee's — neighboring normals stations can shift the windows by a week or more. The full ranking lives on the Washington season index.

Vancouver pool season FAQ

When should I open my pool in Vancouver, WA?

Open by May 19 — the model places Vancouver's 61°F crossing about two weeks later, and every warm day you wait pushes the water toward the 65°F algae zone. The Vancouver opening guide has the 12-step sequence.

When should I close my pool in Vancouver?

Close by October 5: cool water keeps its winter chemistry, but freeze damage is the hard stop. The Vancouver closing guide sequences the work backward from that date.

How long is the swim season in Vancouver?

Vancouver averages 52 days a year with normal highs of 80°F or better — about 5 days earlier than the Washington median. The Washington season index ranks all 21 covered cities by the same metric.

How warm does pool water get in Vancouver?

An unheated pool near Vancouver typically peaks around 70°F in high summer and bottoms out near 40°F in winter, never quite reaching the 78°F comfort line without a heater or solar cover. The month-by-month curve above shows the whole cycle; the methodology page explains the ±5°F error bars.

Data: NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals via Vancouver Pearson Airport (3.1 mi); live outlook by Open-Meteo. Attribution: sources · assumptions: methodology.