Bighorn No. 8 is among the frostiest of Canadian towns
Expect July afternoons of about 22.5°C. June is the wettest month here, with about 3.9 times the rain and snow of February. By July afternoons alone, it runs cooler than 96% of Canadian towns. Wet days, with 1 mm of rain or snow or more, come about 91 times a year.
Bighorn No. 8 has no ECCC normals station of its own: every figure here comes from Banff, 31 km north-west.
A year in Bighorn No. 8 at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Bighorn No. 8’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in Bighorn No. 8 feels like
Each season’s and each month’s usual high and low, 1991–2020.
About 220 frosts and 67 warm days a year
The frost season runs August to June, and December freezes nearly every night. On about 23 nights a year the air falls below −20°C.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
About 454 mm of rain and snow a year
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
About 184 cm of snow a year
From September to June snow is likely; April is the peak, at about 30 cm. 5th snowiest of 475 towns of 2,500+ in Alberta.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Heating a home in Bighorn No. 8
82% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: September to May.
ECCC sums, over the year, how many degrees each day’s average falls short of 18°C. In heating terms, homes need more heating than 83% of Canadian towns.
Living with Bighorn No. 8’s climate
What the normals mean for a garden, a day outside and the depth of winter.
Plant out after about 19 June; the first frost of autumn usually arrives near 23 August, leaving roughly 64 days without frost.
The averages never combine highs of 17–27°C with nights of 8°C or more.
Parks & trails →About 39 days a year bring a wind chill under −20, when bare skin chills fast.
On some 3 days a year the humidex climbs past 30.
Bad-weather days, from blizzards to floods, get their own page for Bighorn No. 8: the hazards page.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Banff
Banff is a composite: ECCC joins 3 stations’ readings to make its 1991–2020 normals.
| Distance from the town | 31 km north-west |
| Station altitude | 1,397 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −44.2°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 34.2°C |
| Average wind | 8.2 km/h on average, most often from the south-west |
| Next-nearest location | Calgary (Airport), 81 km |
How Bighorn No. 8 compares
Against the 2,611 Canadian towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, each read from its own normals location; the dots are the other locations those towns use in Alberta.
Nearby towns’ climate
Places around Bighorn No. 8 whose figures come from another normals location. The nearest place to Bighorn No. 8 with figures is 50 km away.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bighorn No. 8 Banff | 22.5°C | −13.5°C | 454 mm |
| Cochrane 50 km · Calgary (Airport) | 23.5°C 1.0°C warmer | −13.5°C about the same | 445 mm |
Bighorn No. 8 weather by month
Month by month, 1991–2020: the usual high, low and mean, the rain and snow, and the snowfall.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain & snow | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −3.5°C | −13.5°C | −8.5°C | 19 mm | 21 cm |
| February | −0.5°C | −12.6°C | −6.6°C | 19 mm | 20 cm |
| March | 3.7°C | −8.2°C | −2.2°C | 29 mm | 25 cm |
| April | 9.0°C | −3.5°C | 2.8°C | 39 mm | 30 cm |
| May | 14.3°C | 0.5°C | 7.4°C | 50 mm | 12 cm |
| June | 17.9°C | 4.4°C | 11.2°C | 73 mm | 2 cm |
| July | 22.5°C | 6.8°C | 14.7°C | 47 mm | under 1 cm |
| August | 22.1°C | 5.8°C | 14.0°C | 47 mm | under 1 cm |
| September | 16.7°C | 2.2°C | 9.4°C | 45 mm | 8 cm |
| October | 9.1°C | −2.4°C | 3.4°C | 36 mm | 17 cm |
| November | 0.6°C | −8.2°C | −3.8°C | 28 mm | 25 cm |
| December | −4.6°C | −13.4°C | −9.0°C | 23 mm | 23 cm |
| Year | 8.9°C | −3.5°C | 2.7°C | 454 mm | 184 cm |
The month with the widest range: March, −38.5°C to 20.0°C
Two years in three, February’s average falls within 4.1°C of its normal of −6.6°C; June keeps to within 0.9°C.
Where Bighorn No. 8’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the Canadian Climate Normals, 1991–2020, at Banff (the closest location with all twelve months of temperatures).
- Comparisons: all Canadian places of 2,500 or more except city totals and reserves, each read the same way.
- Not on this page: sunshine, not in ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals, and the effect of the town’s height, for which there is no figure.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Bighorn No. 8’s climate
How warm does Bighorn No. 8 get in summer?
Of all twelve months, July has the warmest afternoons, about 22.5°C.
How cold does Bighorn No. 8 get in winter?
Of all twelve months, January has the coldest nights, about −13.5°C.
How much rain and snow does Bighorn No. 8 get?
454 mm a year counting snow as water. The wettest month is June (73 mm); the driest, February (19 mm).
Are these figures for Bighorn No. 8 itself?
Not exactly. Bighorn No. 8 lacks a normals station, so Banff supplies the figures.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Bighorn No. 8 →
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).