Precipitation in Shawnessy trails that of 82% of Canadian towns: 445 mm a year
Peak summer warmth arrives in July, with afternoons near 23.5°C. June is the wettest month, January the driest. By July afternoons alone, it runs cooler than 80% of Canadian towns. Heating does most of its work from October to May, in months below 10°C on average.
Read at Calgary (Airport), 24 km north: ECCC’s normals for 1991–2020.
A year in Shawnessy at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Shawnessy’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in Shawnessy feels like
Seasons and months as ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals give them: a typical day’s high and low.
About 193 frosts and 87 warm days a year
Frost comes from September to May; in December almost every night freezes. On about 22 nights a year the air falls below −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
Some 72 days a year see 1 mm of rain or snow or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
Snowfall: about 139 cm in a normal 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 Shawnessy
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. That means homes here need more heating than 68% of Canadian towns.
Living with Shawnessy’s climate
Gardening, time outside, winter cold and summer heat, from the 1991–2020 normals.
Seedlings can go out once the average last frost, around 21 May, has passed; autumn’s first, near 18 September, ends a season of about 119 days.
Plan time outside for Jul and Aug: highs of 17–27°C and nights no colder than 8°C.
Parks & trails →Bitter wind chill, under −20, comes on about 42 days a year.
About 9 days a year feel above 30 on the humidex.
The normals describe a typical year, not its worst days; the hazards page covers Shawnessy’s.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Calgary (Airport)
Behind the 1991–2020 normals for Calgary (Airport) are 2 stations, which ECCC combines into one record.
| Distance from the town | 24 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, 84 km |
How Shawnessy 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
Nearby places read from a different ECCC location (places on Shawnessy’s own would show the same figures). The nearest places to Shawnessy with figures are 60–72 km away.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shawnessy Calgary (Airport) | 23.5°C | −13.5°C | 445 mm |
| Wheatland County 60 km · Queenstown | 25.0°C 1.5°C warmer | −13.7°C about the same | 412 mm |
| Stoney 142, 143, 144 61 km · Banff | 22.5°C 1.0°C cooler | −13.5°C about the same | 454 mm |
| Nanton 66 km · Claresholm | 25.2°C 1.7°C warmer | −13.2°C about the same | 428 mm |
| Carstairs 72 km · Sundre | 22.8°C 0.7°C cooler | −18.0°C 4.5°C colder | 496 mm |
Shawnessy 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 |
December: −38.2°C at its coldest, 19.5°C at its warmest
Year to year, February varies most (a standard deviation of 4.1°C around −5.9°C) and June least (1.1°C).
Where Shawnessy’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the Canadian Climate Normals, 1991–2020, at Calgary (Airport) (the closest location with all twelve months of 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: 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 Shawnessy’s climate
How warm does Shawnessy get in summer?
Expect highs near 23.5°C in July, the hottest month on average.
How cold does Shawnessy get in winter?
A typical January night falls to −13.5°C, the year’s low point.
How much rain and snow does Shawnessy 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?
Roughly 93 days a year start with snow cover of 1 cm or more.
Are these figures for Shawnessy itself?
Nearly: Calgary (Airport), the location behind them, sits just beyond Shawnessy’s boundary.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Shawnessy →
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).