Less rain and snow fall on Cranston than on 82% of Canadian towns: 445 mm a year
Peak summer warmth arrives in July, with afternoons near 23.5°C. Summers stay cool: July afternoons here are cooler than in 80% of Canadian towns. The year is lopsided: June gets about 11 times what January does. Warm coats and heating bills mark the months from October to May, when means dip under 10°C.
The nearest ECCC normals location to Cranston is Calgary (Airport), 27 km north, and every figure on this page is its.
A year in Cranston at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Cranston’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in Cranston feels like
Each season’s and each month’s usual high and low, 1991–2020.
Frost on 193 days, 20°C on 87
From September to May frost is routine, and in December it comes on almost every night. Some 22 nights a year drop under −20°C.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
About 445 mm of rain and snow a year
Some 72 days a year see 1 mm of rain or snow or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
About 139 cm of snow a year
Expect snow from September to May, with about 24 cm in March, the snowiest month.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
Heating a home in Cranston
85% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to May.
One degree below 18°C for one day makes one heating degree day; the year’s days are added together. In heating terms, homes need more heating than 68% of Canadian towns.
Living with Cranston’s climate
What the normals mean for a garden, a day outside and the depth of winter.
The growing season between frosts lasts about 119 days, roughly 21 May to 18 September.
Plan time outside for Jul and Aug: highs of 17–27°C and nights no colder than 8°C.
Parks & trails →A wind chill below −20 is part of about 42 days a year here.
About 9 days a year turn sultry, with the humidex past 30.
Extremes don’t show in averages: floods, wildfire smoke and ice storms are on Cranston’s hazards page.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Calgary (Airport)
ECCC builds the Calgary (Airport) normals from 2 stations’ records over 1991–2020, joined where one replaced another.
| Distance from the town | 27 km north |
| 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 | Queenstown, 76 km |
How Cranston 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 Cranston whose figures come from another normals location. No closer places have figures: these lie 54–73 km from Cranston.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cranston Calgary (Airport) | 23.5°C | −13.5°C | 445 mm |
| Wheatland County 54 km · Queenstown | 25.0°C 1.5°C warmer | −13.7°C about the same | 412 mm |
| Nanton 61 km · Claresholm | 25.2°C 1.7°C warmer | −13.2°C about the same | 428 mm |
| Stoney 142, 143, 144 69 km · Banff | 22.5°C 1.0°C cooler | −13.5°C about the same | 454 mm |
Cranston weather by month
Each month’s normals, 1991–2020: high, low, mean, precipitation and 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 |
February varies most from one year to the next (4.1°C), June least
The thirty-year records stretch furthest in December: a low of −38.2°C in 1996 and a high of 19.5°C in 1999.
Where Cranston’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 Canadian town and neighbourhood of 2,500 or more, each read from its own nearest location; city totals and reserves are left out.
- Not on this page: a sunshine figure (ECCC published none for 1991–2020) and any lapse-rate correction for height, as the town has no elevation here.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Cranston’s climate
How warm does Cranston get in summer?
July is the warmest month, with average highs of 23.5°C.
How cold does Cranston get in winter?
A typical January night falls to −13.5°C, the year’s low point.
How much rain and snow does Cranston get?
Measured as water, a year brings 445 mm: 113 mm in June, the wettest month, and 10 mm in January, the driest.
How long does snow stay on the ground?
Roughly 93 days a year start with snow cover of 1 cm or more.
Are these figures for Cranston itself?
No, they come from Calgary (Airport); ECCC keeps no 1991–2020 normals in Cranston itself.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Cranston →
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).