Temperature and precipitation statistics are reviewed to assess the climate during the field season of the Northern Wetlands Study (NOWES). Significant climatic events are highlighted using different temporal and spatial scales. Long-term meteorological observing stations at Moosonee, Ontario, Schefferville, Quebec, and Churchill, Manitoba, were selected to reflect the climate of nearby NOWES research sites. Climate statistics for 1990 are compared to the 1951--1980 reference period or ''normal.'' The summer of 1990, on average, was warm and wet throughout most of the study area. Total summer precipitation was above the normal accumulation for Churchill and Moosonee, while precipitation was below normal in Schefferville. At all three sites the mean daily temperature for June to August was higher than the 1951--1980 normal but not significantly higher. Climatic conditions for individual months at selected stations deviated from normal. For example, at Moosonee, June 1990 was the second wettest month on record since 1932. The 163-mm accumulation was 2 times greater than the 1951--1980 mean of 78 mm, although 63 mm fell on June 3 alone. In contrast, July precipitation, at Moosonee, was 69% of normal. In Schefferville, only 44 mm of precipitation fell in August, half the 98 mm normal. At Moosonee, the July mean daily temperature of 16.9 ¿C was the warmest since 1981, although it was well below the record of 18.9 ¿C set in 1959.