Less rain and snow fall on Renfrew than on 82% of Canadian towns: 445 mm a year
High summer brings afternoon highs near 23.5°C. The wettest month is June; the driest is January. Summers stay cool: July afternoons here are cooler 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.
1991–2020 normals from ECCC’s Calgary (Airport) location, 6.7 km north.
A year in Renfrew at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Renfrew’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in Renfrew 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
Frost comes from September to May; in December almost every night freezes. 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
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
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 Renfrew
85% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to May.
Degree days add up how far each day’s mean temperature falls below 18°C over a year. By this count, homes here need more heating than 68% of Canadian towns.
Living with Renfrew’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.
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.
Plan shade and water for about 9 days a year above 30 on the humidex.
Averages smooth over blizzards, ice storms, floods and heat waves; Renfrew’s hazards page covers the 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 | 6.7 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, 90 km |
How Renfrew compares
Compared with 2,611 towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more across Canada; the dots mark the other normals locations in Alberta.
Nearby towns’ climate
Nearby places read from a different ECCC location (places on Renfrew’s own would show the same figures). Renfrew has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 55–71 km out.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Renfrew Calgary (Airport) | 23.5°C | −13.5°C | 445 mm |
| Carstairs 55 km · Sundre | 22.8°C 0.7°C cooler | −18.0°C 4.5°C colder | 496 mm |
| Wheatland County 57 km · Queenstown | 25.0°C 1.5°C warmer | −13.7°C about the same | 412 mm |
| Stoney 142, 143, 144 58 km · Banff | 22.5°C 1.0°C cooler | −13.5°C about the same | 454 mm |
Renfrew 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 Renfrew’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: Canadian towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500, each placed by its nearest location (city totals and reserves excluded).
- Not on this page: hours of sunshine, missing from the 1991–2020 normals, and a height correction: the town has no elevation on file.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Renfrew’s climate
How warm does Renfrew get in summer?
Summer peaks in July: a typical afternoon reaches 23.5°C.
How cold does Renfrew get in winter?
Midwinter means January, when a typical night reaches −13.5°C.
How much rain and snow does Renfrew get?
Around 445 mm a year in all, from 113 mm in June down to 10 mm in January.
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 Renfrew itself?
Nearly: Calgary (Airport), the location behind them, sits just beyond Renfrew’s boundary.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Renfrew →
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).