Banff Trail is drier than 82% of Canadian towns: 445 mm of rain and snow a year
The coldest hours of a January night bottom out at −13.5°C on average. Temperatures cover 37°C across the year, low to high. Summers stay cool: July afternoons here are cooler than in 80% of Canadian towns. Homes need heating from October to May, the months averaging under 10°C.
1991–2020 normals from ECCC’s Calgary (Airport) location, 8.6 km north-east.
A year in Banff Trail at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Banff Trail’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in Banff Trail feels like
Each season’s and each month’s usual high and low, 1991–2020.
193 frost days and 87 days above 20°C a year
The frost season runs September to May, and December freezes nearly 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
The snow season runs September to May; March brings the most, about 24 cm.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
Heating a home in Banff Trail
85% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to May.
Behind the figure: the degrees each day’s mean falls under 18°C, summed for the year. A house here needs more heating than 68% of Canadian towns.
Living with Banff Trail’s climate
Gardening, time outside, winter cold and summer heat, from the 1991–2020 normals.
On average the last spring frost comes around 21 May and the first autumn frost around 18 September: about 119 frost-free days between.
Afternoons of 17–27°C and nights of at least 8°C arrive in Jul and Aug.
Parks & trails →A wind chill below −20 is part of about 42 days a year here.
Humid summer days, the humidex above 30, number about 9 a year.
For blizzards, floods and wildfire, turn to Banff Trail’s hazards page.
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 | 8.6 km north-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, 88 km |
How Banff Trail 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 Banff Trail’s own would show the same figures). No closer places have figures: these lie 53–73 km from Banff Trail.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Banff Trail Calgary (Airport) | 23.5°C | −13.5°C | 445 mm |
| Stoney 142, 143, 144 53 km · Banff | 22.5°C 1.0°C cooler | −13.5°C about the same | 454 mm |
| Carstairs 53 km · Sundre | 22.8°C 0.7°C cooler | −18.0°C 4.5°C colder | 496 mm |
| Wheatland County 62 km · Queenstown | 25.0°C 1.5°C warmer | −13.7°C about the same | 412 mm |
Banff Trail 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 most changeable month: February, give or take 4.1°C; the steadiest, June
December has the widest record range, −38.2°C in 1996 to 19.5°C in 1999; the tick on each bar is the month’s normal.
Where Banff Trail’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the closest ECCC location with twelve months of temperature normals, Calgary (Airport), 1991–2020.
- Comparisons: all Canadian places of 2,500 or more except city totals and reserves, each read the same way.
- Not on this page: sunshine (no 1991–2020 normals exist for it) and any altitude adjustment, since there is no elevation for the town itself.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Banff Trail’s climate
How warm does Banff Trail get in summer?
July is the warmest month, with average highs of 23.5°C.
How cold does Banff Trail get in winter?
Overnight lows average −13.5°C in January, the coldest month.
How much rain and snow does Banff Trail get?
Count on roughly 445 mm a year, heaviest in June (113 mm) and lightest in January (10 mm).
How long does snow stay on the ground?
About 93 days a year have 1 cm of snow or more on the ground.
Are these figures for Banff Trail itself?
Nearly: Calgary (Airport), the location behind them, sits just beyond Banff Trail’s boundary.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Banff Trail →
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).