Dry weather: only 445 mm of rain and snow a year falls on Elbow Park, less than on 82% of Canadian towns
In January the night’s low is typically −13.5°C. Summers stay cool: July afternoons here are cooler than in 80% of Canadian towns. Of all months, June brings the most precipitation and January the least. Ice scrapers and block heaters earn their keep on roughly 193 days a year at 0°C or below.
Figures: ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals for Calgary (Airport) (12 km north-east).
A year in Elbow Park at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Elbow Park’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in Elbow Park feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals.
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
Rain and melted snow: about 445 mm a year
On about 72 days a year, 1 mm or more falls.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
139 cm of snow in a typical year
From September to May snow is likely; March is the peak, at about 24 cm.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
Heating a home in Elbow Park
85% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to May.
Heating degree days total each day’s gap between its mean temperature and 18°C. Homes here need more heating than 68% of Canadian towns.
Living with Elbow Park’s climate
The averages read for the garden, the outdoors and the coldest and hottest days.
Frost usually lets go around 21 May and returns near 18 September, about 119 days apart.
Warm afternoons without cold nights, 17–27°C and 8°C or more, mark Jul and Aug.
Parks & trails →Plan for about 42 days a year with a wind chill below −20.
Humid summer days, the humidex above 30, number about 9 a year.
Thirty-year normals hide the storms and the extremes: the hazards page has Elbow Park’s risks.
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 | 12 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 | Queenstown, 90 km |
How Elbow Park 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
Places around Elbow Park whose figures come from another normals location. Elbow Park has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 56–72 km out.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elbow Park Calgary (Airport) | 23.5°C | −13.5°C | 445 mm |
| Stoney 142, 143, 144 56 km · Banff | 22.5°C 1.0°C cooler | −13.5°C about the same | 454 mm |
| Wheatland County 59 km · Queenstown | 25.0°C 1.5°C warmer | −13.7°C about the same | 412 mm |
| Carstairs 59 km · Sundre | 22.8°C 0.7°C cooler | −18.0°C 4.5°C colder | 496 mm |
Elbow Park 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 |
In December, anything from −38.2°C to 19.5°C
February is the least predictable month: about two years in three its average lands within 4.1°C of the normal, −5.9°C. June is the steadiest, within 1.1°C.
Where Elbow Park’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: ECCC’s 1991–2020 Canadian Climate Normals for Calgary (Airport), the nearest location with a full year of temperatures.
- 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, 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 Elbow Park’s climate
How warm does Elbow Park get in summer?
Of all twelve months, July has the warmest afternoons, about 23.5°C.
How cold does Elbow Park get in winter?
Expect nights around −13.5°C in January; no month is colder.
How much rain and snow does Elbow Park get?
Rain and snow, with snow counted as water, total 445 mm a year; June leads with 113 mm and January trails with 10 mm.
How long does snow stay on the ground?
Expect snow on the ground, at least 1 cm, for about 93 days a year.
Are these figures for Elbow Park itself?
Almost: ECCC’s Calgary (Airport) location, which gives these figures, lies a short way outside Elbow Park.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Elbow Park →
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).