The Climate and Weather of Calgary, Alberta

Average Daily Maximum Temperature – Minimum – Sunshine – Raindays – Snowdays – Snowdepth – Windspeed

Located in Southern Alberta, Calgary endures very cold winters, although not as cold as Alberta’s capital city, Edmonton, which lies farther north. Snow depths of greater than 1 cm are seen on about 88 days each year in Calgary compared with about 65 days in Toronto.


Calgary has a prairie-steppe type climate. This means it usually enjoys sunny weather, even in winter, and most of its little rainfall comes in summer. The summer rain is vital for the wheat and grass grown on the prairies.

Calgary has a windy climate which it owes to its prairie location – there are few natural barriers to the wind.

At times the wind in Calgary takes the form of a Chinook, a hot, dry, Foehn type wind that blasts down from the Rockies. In winter, the Chinook can raise the temperature in Calgary by 30 degrees Centigrade in the space of a few hours, providing welcome relief from the often bitter cold.

When the Chinook blows, it can cause rapid thawing of snow to slush.

Calgary enjoys a dry climate with little of the summer humidity that bothers many people in Ontario. Even in summer, Calgary’s nights are rather cool.

Although it enjoys high sunshine hours, Calgary’s weather is often changeable – it is also notoriously difficult to predict in detail from day to day.

Calgary, Alberta

Month
of
year

Av. Daily
Max. Temp.
(°C)

Av. Daily
Min.
Temp. (°C)

Av. hours
Sun
(per day)

Av. Days
with
Rain

Av. Days
with
Snowfall

Av. Depth
Snow on
Ground (cm)

Av. Wind
Speed
(km per hr)

Jan. -3 -15 3.8 0 10 6 15
Feb. 0 -12 5.0 0 8 4 15
Mar. 4 -8 5.7 1 9 3 15
Apr. 11 -2 7.3 4 6 1 17
May 16 3 8.2 10 2 0 17
Jun. 20 7 9.3 13 0 0 16
Jul. 23 9 10.2 13 0 0 14
Aug. 23 8 9.1 11 0 0 13
Sep. 18 4 6.9 9 2 0 14
Oct. 12 -1 5.8 4 4 0 15
Nov. 3 -9 4.1 1 8 2 14
Dec. -1 -13 3.6 0 8 4 15

One thought on “The Climate and Weather of Calgary, Alberta”

  1. Ok really don’t believe the temp differences in the months as Jan- mid to even late February it can be -50 without the wind and -60 or more with wind. Not to mention during the summer months temps can up to +40-+45 Celsius. And these extreme days can last up to 30 days at a time with very little to no breaks. This is what I have a issue with here on the site, as this is apparently a fact site and people will be looking on here for many reasons. Me I am looking on here to see where the best place to grow certain fruits can handle the temperatures in Canada and well I came across here and to see that Calgary apparently on Average per month I see here can get only as cold as -3 and as how as +23 Celsius I may add not Ferin height is a bit far fetch now a days and ya in the early 90’s the highest in the summer maybe that hot and yet in the winter it was still reaching -50 to -60 with the wind chill so ya maybe update these please and give add on average temp over so many years and give the most recent years and then the record breaking highs and lows and how long they lasted as it can be colder here then it is Antarctica in the winter. Sorrry I have lived all over BC and a few parts of AB my whole life and there are days I would rather stay at home then stick my nose out the door as we get some realy nasty weather where we get frost bite in seconds from going out in the cold and second to 3rd degree sun burn in minutes for the fair skinned people in the hot days, let alone dehydration and heat stroke like crazy during the summer after only being out for 30 minutes for some people to the point that the radios, and News stations have to advice people and explain how to avoid these things as non of them are a great thing to get. Like in the winter when we get to -30 to -50 our homeless population freeze to death or get really server frost bite and loose limbs and that. And sadly during the day they have no where warm to go and stay safe let alone in the hot summer days.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *