Arbour Lake is drier than 82% of Canadian towns: 445 mm of rain and snow a year
Expect July afternoons of about 23.5°C. The gap between a January night and a July afternoon is 37°C. Its July afternoons stay fresher than in 80% of Canadian towns. Ice scrapers and block heaters earn their keep on roughly 193 days a year at 0°C or below.
Read at Calgary (Airport), 14 km east: ECCC’s normals for 1991–2020.
A year in Arbour Lake at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Arbour Lake’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in Arbour Lake feels like
Each season’s and each month’s usual high and low, 1991–2020.
About 193 frosts and 87 warm days a year
From September to May frost is routine, and in December it comes on almost every night. On about 22 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
445 mm of precipitation in a typical year
June is the wettest month and January the driest. About 72 days a year bring 1 mm or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
139 cm of snow in a typical year
Snow falls from September to May, most of all in March (about 24 cm).
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
Heating a home in Arbour Lake
85% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to May.
ECCC sums, over the year, how many degrees each day’s average falls short of 18°C. That means homes here need more heating than 68% of Canadian towns.
Living with Arbour Lake’s climate
The averages read for the garden, the outdoors and the coldest and hottest days.
The growing season between frosts lasts about 119 days, roughly 21 May to 18 September.
The comfortable months for a day outside, highs of 17–27°C and nights of 8°C or more: Jul and Aug.
Parks & trails →Winter brings about 42 days with a wind chill below −20.
The air feels heavier than 30 on the humidex for about 9 days a year.
Averages smooth over blizzards, ice storms, floods and heat waves; Arbour Lake’s hazards page covers the risks.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Calgary (Airport)
Behind the 1991–2020 normals for Calgary (Airport) are 2 stations, which ECCC combines into one record.
| Distance from the town | 14 km east |
| Station altitude | 1,099 m |
| Completeness | at least 20 years |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −39.7°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 36.5°C |
| Average wind | 13.8 km/h on average, most often from the south |
| Next-nearest location | Sundre, 79 km |
How Arbour Lake 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 Arbour Lake whose figures come from another normals location. No closer places have figures: these lie 46–67 km from Arbour Lake.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arbour Lake Calgary (Airport) | 23.5°C | −13.5°C | 445 mm |
| Stoney 142, 143, 144 46 km · Banff | 22.5°C 1.0°C cooler | −13.5°C about the same | 454 mm |
| Carstairs 47 km · Sundre | 22.8°C 0.7°C cooler | −18.0°C 4.5°C colder | 496 mm |
Arbour Lake 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 | −1.5°C | −13.5°C | −7.6°C | 10 mm | 17 cm |
| February | 0.1°C | −11.8°C | −5.9°C | 12 mm | 17 cm |
| March | 3.8°C | −8.1°C | −2.2°C | 18 mm | 24 cm |
| April | 10.8°C | −1.9°C | 4.5°C | 30 mm | 23 cm |
| May | 16.4°C | 3.4°C | 9.9°C | 61 mm | 10 cm |
| June | 19.7°C | 7.7°C | 13.7°C | 113 mm | under 1 cm |
| July | 23.5°C | 10.2°C | 16.9°C | 66 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 23.1°C | 9.2°C | 16.2°C | 54 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 18.3°C | 4.7°C | 11.5°C | 37 mm | 2 cm |
| October | 11.1°C | −1.3°C | 4.9°C | 17 mm | 12 cm |
| November | 4.1°C | −7.5°C | −1.7°C | 16 mm | 19 cm |
| December | −0.4°C | −12.1°C | −6.3°C | 13 mm | 16 cm |
| Year | 10.8°C | −1.8°C | 4.5°C | 445 mm | 139 cm |
The month with the widest range: December, −38.2°C to 19.5°C
Two years in three, February’s average falls within 4.1°C of its normal of −5.9°C; June keeps to within 1.1°C.
Where Arbour Lake’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: 1991–2020 normals for Calgary (Airport) from ECCC’s climate data site, the nearest location with every month of temperature.
- Comparisons: every place of 2,500+ in Canada but the city hubs and the reserves, each on its nearest ECCC location.
- Not on this page: sunshine, absent from every 1991–2020 location, and an altitude correction, for want of the town’s own elevation.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Arbour Lake’s climate
How warm does Arbour Lake get in summer?
At its warmest, in July, the normal high is 23.5°C.
How cold does Arbour Lake get in winter?
A typical January night falls to −13.5°C, the year’s low point.
How much rain and snow does Arbour Lake get?
445 mm a year counting snow as water. The wettest month is June (113 mm); the driest, January (10 mm).
How long does snow stay on the ground?
In a normal winter there are about 93 days with at least 1 cm of snow lying.
Are these figures for Arbour Lake itself?
Nearly: Calgary (Airport), the location behind them, sits just beyond Arbour Lake’s boundary.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Arbour Lake →
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).