Dry weather: only 445 mm of rain and snow a year falls on Thorncliffe, less than on 82% of Canadian towns
Deep winter brings January lows near −13.5°C. Rain or snow is most frequent in June and least in January. In July, afternoons here are cooler than in 80% of Canadian towns. Picnics, hikes and garden evenings suit July and August, with highs of 23–24°C.
Environment and Climate Change Canada’s 1991–2020 normals at its Calgary (Airport) station, 4.9 km north-east.
A year in Thorncliffe at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Thorncliffe’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in Thorncliffe 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
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
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
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 Thorncliffe
85% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to May.
The count adds up, day by day, how far the mean temperature falls short of 18°C. By this count, homes here need more heating than 68% of Canadian towns.
Living with Thorncliffe’s climate
The averages read for the garden, the outdoors and the coldest and hottest days.
About 119 days a year pass without frost, from an average last frost of 21 May to a first of 18 September.
Mild days and mild nights together (17–27°C by day, 8°C or more at night) belong to Jul and Aug.
Parks & trails →Roughly 42 days a year feel colder than −20 in the wind.
Humid summer days, the humidex above 30, number about 9 a year.
A typical year is calm by definition; Thorncliffe’s hazards page covers the exceptions.
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 | 4.9 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, 86 km |
How Thorncliffe 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
Places around Thorncliffe whose figures come from another normals location. Thorncliffe has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 50–72 km out.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thorncliffe Calgary (Airport) | 23.5°C | −13.5°C | 445 mm |
| Carstairs 50 km · Sundre | 22.8°C 0.7°C cooler | −18.0°C 4.5°C colder | 496 mm |
| Stoney 142, 143, 144 55 km · Banff | 22.5°C 1.0°C cooler | −13.5°C about the same | 454 mm |
| Wheatland County 60 km · Queenstown | 25.0°C 1.5°C warmer | −13.7°C about the same | 412 mm |
Thorncliffe 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 |
A December here can run from −38.2°C to 19.5°C
February is the least predictable month: about two years in three its average lands within 4.1°C of the normal, −5.9°C. June is the steadiest, within 1.1°C.
Where Thorncliffe’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 Thorncliffe’s climate
How warm does Thorncliffe get in summer?
Highs reach 23.5°C on an average July day; no month is warmer.
How cold does Thorncliffe get in winter?
At its coldest, in January, the normal low is −13.5°C.
How much rain and snow does Thorncliffe get?
Rain and snow, with snow counted as water, total 445 mm a year; June leads with 113 mm and January trails with 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 Thorncliffe itself?
They are the normals for Calgary (Airport), measured just outside Thorncliffe itself.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Thorncliffe →
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).