Precipitation in Downtown West End trails that of 82% of Canadian towns: 445 mm a year
July afternoons average 23.5°C. Summers stay cool: July afternoons here are cooler than in 80% of Canadian towns. June is the wettest month here, with about 11 times the rain and snow of January. About 72 days a year bring 1 mm of precipitation or more.
1991–2020 normals from ECCC’s Calgary (Airport) location, 9.7 km north-east.
A year in Downtown West End at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Downtown West End’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in Downtown West End feels like
Seasons and months as ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals give them: a typical day’s high and low.
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
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 Downtown West End
85% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to May.
The total grows by a degree for every degree a day’s mean sits under 18°C. Over a year, a home here needs more heating than 68% of Canadian towns.
Living with Downtown West End’s climate
Gardening, time outside, winter cold and summer heat, from the 1991–2020 normals.
The frost-free stretch runs from about 21 May to about 18 September, some 119 days in a normal year.
For long days outdoors, Jul and Aug bring highs of 17–27°C and lows of 8°C or more.
Parks & trails →Wind chill falls below −20 on about 42 days a year: cover skin and dress in layers.
Count on some 9 humid days a year with the humidex past 30.
A normal year has no blizzard, flood or heat wave in it; Downtown West End’s hazards page looks at those.
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 | 9.7 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, 91 km |
How Downtown West End 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 Downtown West End whose figures come from another normals location. The nearest places to Downtown West End with figures are 55–74 km away.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Downtown West End Calgary (Airport) | 23.5°C | −13.5°C | 445 mm |
| Stoney 142, 143, 144 55 km · Banff | 22.5°C 1.0°C cooler | −13.5°C about the same | 454 mm |
| Carstairs 56 km · Sundre | 22.8°C 0.7°C cooler | −18.0°C 4.5°C colder | 496 mm |
| Wheatland County 60 km · Queenstown | 25.0°C 1.5°C warmer | −13.7°C about the same | 412 mm |
Downtown West End 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 |
December has run from −38.2°C to 19.5°C in thirty years
The month to count on least is February: one year in three its average strays more than 4.1°C from −5.9°C. June moves least, typically by 1.1°C.
Where Downtown West End’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: a pool of Canadian towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, read alike; whole cities and reserves stay out of it.
- Not on this page: sunshine, which none of ECCC’s 450 locations publishes for 1991–2020, and the town’s own height above sea level, so no figure is adjusted for altitude.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Downtown West End’s climate
How warm does Downtown West End get in summer?
Midsummer means July, with afternoons near 23.5°C on a typical day.
How cold does Downtown West End get in winter?
The year’s coldest nights belong to January, at about −13.5°C.
How much rain and snow does Downtown West End get?
The year adds up to 445 mm. June is the peak month (113 mm) and January the low one (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 Downtown West End itself?
Close to it: they are ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals for Calgary (Airport), just outside Downtown West End’s boundary.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Downtown West End →
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).