Sandstone Valley is drier than 82% of Canadian towns: 445 mm of rain and snow a year
Midsummer highs settle at about 23.5°C. Its July afternoons stay fresher than in 80% of Canadian towns. A year here swings 37°C from midwinter lows to midsummer highs. 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) (6.4 km east).
A year in Sandstone Valley at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Sandstone Valley’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in Sandstone Valley feels like
Each season’s and each month’s usual high and low, 1991–2020.
About 193 frosts and 87 warm days 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
445 mm of precipitation in a typical year
The most falls in June, the least in January. 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
Snow falls from September to May, most of all in March (about 24 cm).
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
Heating a home in Sandstone Valley
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. That means homes here need more heating than 68% of Canadian towns.
Living with Sandstone Valley’s climate
What the normals mean for a garden, a day outside and the depth of winter.
Between the last frost, near 21 May, and the first, near 18 September, lie about 119 frost-free days.
Highs of 17–27°C with nights of 8°C or more come in Jul and Aug.
Parks & trails →Plan for about 42 days a year with a wind chill below −20.
Expect around 9 sticky days a year with the humidex above 30.
A typical year is calm by definition; Sandstone Valley’s hazards page covers the exceptions.
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 | 6.4 km 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, 82 km |
How Sandstone Valley 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
The nearest places on a normals location of their own: those that share Sandstone Valley’s would only repeat its figures. Distances here run 46–67 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Sandstone Valley.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sandstone Valley Calgary (Airport) | 23.5°C | −13.5°C | 445 mm |
| Carstairs 46 km · Sundre | 22.8°C 0.7°C cooler | −18.0°C 4.5°C colder | 496 mm |
| Stoney 142, 143, 144 53 km · Banff | 22.5°C 1.0°C cooler | −13.5°C about the same | 454 mm |
| Wheatland County 62 km · Queenstown | 25.0°C 1.5°C warmer | −13.7°C about the same | 412 mm |
Sandstone Valley 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 |
Two years in three, February’s average lands within 4.1°C of normal, against the steadier June
Each bar spans a month’s coldest and warmest readings over thirty years; December’s run from −38.2°C in 1996 to 19.5°C in 1999.
Where Sandstone Valley’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the 1991–2020 normals from ECCC for Calgary (Airport), its nearest location with complete temperatures.
- Comparisons: the towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ across Canada, each on its nearest normals location, without the city totals or the reserves.
- 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 Sandstone Valley’s climate
How warm does Sandstone Valley get in summer?
Highs reach 23.5°C on an average July day; no month is warmer.
How cold does Sandstone Valley get in winter?
Of all twelve months, January has the coldest nights, about −13.5°C.
How much rain and snow does Sandstone Valley 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?
Expect snow on the ground, at least 1 cm, for about 93 days a year.
Are these figures for Sandstone Valley itself?
Almost: ECCC’s Calgary (Airport) location, which gives these figures, lies a short way outside Sandstone Valley.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Sandstone Valley →
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).