Barnwell is among the driest of Canadian towns: 373 mm of rain and snow a year
In January the night’s low is typically −14.1°C. By July afternoons alone, it runs hotter than 83% of Canadian towns. Some 41°C separates winter nights from summer afternoons. Ice scrapers and block heaters earn their keep on roughly 182 days a year at 0°C or below.
These are not Barnwell’s own readings: ECCC keeps no normals there, so the page uses Vauxhall, 34 km north.
A year in Barnwell at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Barnwell’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in Barnwell feels like
Seasons and months as ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals give them: a typical day’s high and low.
Frost on 182 days, 20°C on 117
The frost season runs September to May, and December freezes nearly every night. Deep cold, under −20°C, comes on about 26 nights a year.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
373 mm of precipitation in a typical year
June is the wettest month and February the driest. About 69 days a year bring 1 mm or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
ECCC’s Vauxhall normals leave out precipitation and snow; both come from Lethbridge here, 41 km away.
108 cm of snow in a typical year
From August to May snow is likely; March is the peak, at about 18 cm.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Heating a home in Barnwell
89% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to April.
The count adds up, day by day, how far the mean temperature falls short of 18°C.
Living with Barnwell’s climate
What the normals mean for a garden, a day outside and the depth of winter.
On average the last spring frost comes around 15 May and the first autumn frost around 19 September: about 126 frost-free days between.
Plan time outside for Jun, Jul and Aug: highs of 17–27°C and nights no colder than 8°C.
Parks & trails →Wind chill falls below −20 on about 49 days a year: cover skin and dress in layers.
Plan shade and water for about 31 days a year above 30 on the humidex.
Thirty years of averages say little about one bad storm; Barnwell’s hazards page does.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Vauxhall
Vauxhall is one of the 450 places where ECCC publishes 1991–2020 normals.
| Distance from the town | 34 km north |
| Station altitude | 779 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Precipitation from | Lethbridge, 41 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −44.2°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 39.9°C |
| Average wind | 14.6 km/h on average, most often from the west |
| Next-nearest location | Lethbridge, 41 km |
How Barnwell compares
Placed among 2,611 Canadian towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+, each on its nearest normals location; each dot is another location used in Alberta.
Nearby towns’ climate
Nearby places read from a different ECCC location (places on Barnwell’s own would show the same figures). The one place listed is 26 km from Barnwell, the nearest with figures.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barnwell Vauxhall | 26.8°C | −14.1°C | 373 mm |
| Coaldale 26 km · Lethbridge | 26.3°C 0.5°C cooler | −12.1°C 2.0°C milder | 373 mm |
Barnwell weather by month
Average daily high and low, mean temperature, rain and snow (as water) and snowfall by month, 1991–2020.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain & snow | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −2.2°C | −14.1°C | −8.1°C | 11 mm | 13 cm |
| February | 0.1°C | −12.8°C | −6.4°C | 10 mm | 15 cm |
| March | 5.4°C | −7.5°C | −1.1°C | 17 mm | 18 cm |
| April | 12.7°C | −1.3°C | 5.7°C | 28 mm | 13 cm |
| May | 18.6°C | 4.3°C | 11.5°C | 57 mm | 5 cm |
| June | 22.4°C | 8.8°C | 15.6°C | 93 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 26.8°C | 10.9°C | 18.8°C | 40 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 26.5°C | 9.7°C | 18.1°C | 33 mm | 1 cm |
| September | 21.0°C | 5.1°C | 13.1°C | 32 mm | 1 cm |
| October | 13.1°C | −1.0°C | 6.1°C | 24 mm | 10 cm |
| November | 4.8°C | −7.6°C | −1.4°C | 16 mm | 16 cm |
| December | −1.1°C | −13.0°C | −7.1°C | 12 mm | 15 cm |
| Year | 12.3°C | −1.6°C | 5.4°C | 373 mm | 108 cm |
March: −40.2°C at its coldest, 27.4°C at its warmest
The month to count on least is February: one year in three its average strays more than 5.3°C from −6.4°C. June moves least, typically by 1.0°C.
Where Barnwell’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: Environment and Climate Change Canada’s 1991–2020 normals, Vauxhall: the nearest of its locations with every month’s temperatures.
- Other locations: a location missing months of precipitation or snow is filled from the nearest that has them all, never mixed month by month.
- Comparisons: all Canadian places of 2,500 or more except city totals and reserves, each read the same way.
- Not on this page: hours of sunshine, missing from the 1991–2020 normals, and a height correction: the town has no elevation on file.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Barnwell’s climate
How warm does Barnwell get in summer?
In July, the warmest month, the typical high is 26.8°C.
How cold does Barnwell get in winter?
Lows sink to −14.1°C on an average January night.
How much rain and snow does Barnwell get?
The yearly total is about 373 mm. June gets 93 mm, the most of any month; February gets 10 mm, the least.
Are these figures for Barnwell itself?
Not as such: Vauxhall is the nearest normals location, and Barnwell has none.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Barnwell →
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).