Less rain and snow fall on Richmond than on 82% of Canadian towns: 445 mm a year
On a normal January night the air cools to about −13.5°C. June is the wettest month here, with about 11 times the rain and snow of January. In July, afternoons here are cooler than in 80% of Canadian towns. The furnace earns its keep from October to May, the months that average under 10°C.
Read at Calgary (Airport), 13 km north-east: ECCC’s normals for 1991–2020.
A year in Richmond at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Richmond’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in Richmond feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals.
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
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
About 139 cm of snow a 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 Richmond
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. That means homes here need more heating than 68% of Canadian towns.
Living with Richmond’s climate
Gardening, time outside, winter cold and summer heat, from the 1991–2020 normals.
From about 21 May to 18 September the garden is usually clear of frost, some 119 days.
The comfortable months for a day outside, highs of 17–27°C and nights of 8°C or more: Jul and Aug.
Parks & trails →Roughly 42 days a year feel colder than −20 in the wind.
Summer brings about 9 days when the humidex passes 30.
What averages leave out, the floods and ice storms, is on Richmond’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 | 13 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, 92 km |
How Richmond 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
The nearest places on a normals location of their own: those that share Richmond’s would only repeat its figures. No closer places have figures: these lie 54–73 km from Richmond.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Richmond Calgary (Airport) | 23.5°C | −13.5°C | 445 mm |
| Stoney 142, 143, 144 54 km · Banff | 22.5°C 1.0°C cooler | −13.5°C about the same | 454 mm |
| Carstairs 58 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 |
Richmond weather by month
Average daily high and low, mean temperature, rain and snow (as water) and snowfall by month, 1991–2020.
| 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
Bars run from each month’s record low to its record high since 1991. December spans the most, from −38.2°C (1996) to 19.5°C (1999).
Where Richmond’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: Environment and Climate Change Canada’s 1991–2020 normals, Calgary (Airport): the nearest of its locations with every month’s temperatures.
- 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 Richmond’s climate
How warm does Richmond get in summer?
On a normal day in July the thermometer climbs to 23.5°C, the warmest of the year.
How cold does Richmond get in winter?
January nights average −13.5°C, the coldest of the year.
How much rain and snow does Richmond get?
Some 445 mm falls in a year. Most of it comes in June (113 mm), the least in January (10 mm).
How long does snow stay on the ground?
A layer of at least 1 cm stays down on about 93 days a year.
Are these figures for Richmond itself?
They are the normals for Calgary (Airport), measured just outside Richmond itself.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Richmond →
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).