Dry weather: only 445 mm of rain and snow a year falls on Sunalta, less than on 82% of Canadian towns
Midsummer highs settle at about 23.5°C. The wettest month is June; the driest is January. Its July afternoons stay fresher than in 80% of Canadian towns. Comfortable outdoor weather, highs of 23–24°C, belongs to July and August.
1991–2020 normals from ECCC’s Calgary (Airport) location, 11 km north-east.
A year in Sunalta at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Sunalta’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in Sunalta 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
From September to May frost is routine, and in December it comes on almost every night. 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
Snowfall: about 139 cm in a normal year
Expect snow from September to May, with about 24 cm in March, the snowiest month.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
Heating a home in Sunalta
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. Homes here need more heating than 68% of Canadian towns.
Living with Sunalta’s climate
What the normals mean for a garden, a day outside and the depth of winter.
Gardens get from about 21 May to 18 September without frost, around 119 days in all.
Afternoons of 17–27°C and nights of at least 8°C arrive in Jul and Aug.
Parks & trails →Roughly 42 days a year feel colder than −20 in the wind.
A humidex above 30 marks about 9 days in a normal year.
Storms, floods and heat waves sit outside these normals; Sunalta’s hazards page covers them.
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 | 11 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 | Sundre, 92 km |
How Sunalta 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
The nearest places on a normals location of their own: those that share Sunalta’s would only repeat its figures. Sunalta has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 54–74 km out.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunalta 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 57 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 |
Sunalta 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 |
February varies most from one year to the next (4.1°C), June least
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 Sunalta’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: 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: sunshine, absent from every 1991–2020 location, and an altitude correction, for want of the town’s own elevation.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Sunalta’s climate
How warm does Sunalta get in summer?
On a normal day in July the thermometer climbs to 23.5°C, the warmest of the year.
How cold does Sunalta get in winter?
Of all twelve months, January has the coldest nights, about −13.5°C.
How much rain and snow does Sunalta 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?
Snow lies on the ground for about 93 days in a normal year.
Are these figures for Sunalta itself?
Nearly: Calgary (Airport), the location behind them, sits just beyond Sunalta’s boundary.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Sunalta →
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).