Precipitation in South Calgary trails that of 82% of Canadian towns: 445 mm a year
Nights in January average −13.5°C. By July afternoons alone, it runs cooler than 80% of Canadian towns. June is the wettest month, January the driest. If you like long walks, July and August offer highs of 23–24°C.
Read at Calgary (Airport), 12 km north-east: ECCC’s normals for 1991–2020.
A year in South Calgary at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about South Calgary’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in South Calgary 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
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
About 445 mm of rain and snow a 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
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 South Calgary
85% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to May.
Each day the mean sits under 18°C adds its shortfall; a year’s total is its heating degree days. Homes here need more heating than 68% of Canadian towns.
Living with South Calgary’s climate
What the normals mean for a garden, a day outside and the depth of winter.
Wait until about 21 May to plant out; frost tends to come back around 18 September, about 119 days later.
Plan time outside for Jul and Aug: highs of 17–27°C and nights no colder than 8°C.
Parks & trails →On some 42 days a year the wind chill drops past −20; mitts and a scarf earn their place.
Humid heat, a humidex over 30, comes on about 9 days a year.
A normal year has no blizzard, flood or heat wave in it; South Calgary’s hazards page looks at those.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Calgary (Airport)
Calgary (Airport) is a composite: ECCC joins 2 stations’ readings to make its 1991–2020 normals.
| 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, 92 km |
How South Calgary 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 South Calgary’s would only repeat its figures. Distances here run 54–74 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from South Calgary.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Calgary 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 59 km · Sundre | 22.8°C 0.7°C cooler | −18.0°C 4.5°C colder | 496 mm |
| Wheatland County 61 km · Queenstown | 25.0°C 1.5°C warmer | −13.7°C about the same | 412 mm |
South Calgary 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 |
The month with the widest range: December, −38.2°C to 19.5°C
Bars run from each month’s record low to its record high over 1991–2020; February is the month whose average wanders most from year to year (±4.1°C around −5.9°C), June the one that wanders least (±1.1°C).
Where South Calgary’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the closest ECCC location with twelve months of temperature normals, Calgary (Airport), 1991–2020.
- Comparisons: the 2,500-plus towns and neighbourhoods of Canada, each read from its closest normals location; whole cities and reserves aren’t counted.
- 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 South Calgary’s climate
How warm does South Calgary get in summer?
July is the warmest month, with average highs of 23.5°C.
How cold does South Calgary get in winter?
The year’s coldest nights belong to January, at about −13.5°C.
How much rain and snow does South Calgary get?
A normal year brings 445 mm, snow included as water: June is wettest at 113 mm, January driest at 10 mm.
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 South Calgary itself?
Close to it: they are ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals for Calgary (Airport), just outside South Calgary’s boundary.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for South Calgary →
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).