University Heights is drier than 82% of Canadian towns: 445 mm of rain and snow a year
On a normal January night the air cools to about −13.5°C. Its July afternoons stay fresher than in 80% of Canadian towns. June is the wettest month, January the driest. Plan time outside for July and August, when highs sit at 23–24°C.
Environment and Climate Change Canada’s 1991–2020 normals at its Calgary (Airport) station, 10 km north-east.
A year in University Heights at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about University Heights’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in University Heights feels like
Each season’s and each month’s usual high and low, 1991–2020.
Frost on 193 days, 20°C on 87
The frost season runs September to May, and December freezes nearly every night. 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
Rain and melted snow: about 445 mm a year
About 72 days a year bring 1 mm or more.
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 University Heights
85% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to May.
Measured against 18°C: each day’s shortfall in mean temperature, added over twelve months. That means homes here need more heating than 68% of Canadian towns.
Living with University Heights’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.
Mild days and mild nights together (17–27°C by day, 8°C or more at night) belong to Jul and Aug.
Parks & trails →Frostbite weather, a wind chill under −20, turns up on about 42 days a year.
About 9 days a year feel above 30 on the humidex.
Averages smooth over blizzards, ice storms, floods and heat waves; University Heights’s hazards page covers the risks.
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 | 10 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, 87 km |
How University Heights 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
Nearby places read from a different ECCC location (places on University Heights’s own would show the same figures). Distances here run 51–72 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from University Heights.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| University Heights Calgary (Airport) | 23.5°C | −13.5°C | 445 mm |
| Stoney 142, 143, 144 51 km · Banff | 22.5°C 1.0°C cooler | −13.5°C about the same | 454 mm |
| Carstairs 53 km · Sundre | 22.8°C 0.7°C cooler | −18.0°C 4.5°C colder | 496 mm |
| Wheatland County 63 km · Queenstown | 25.0°C 1.5°C warmer | −13.7°C about the same | 412 mm |
University Heights 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 |
February varies most from one year to the next (4.1°C), June least
December has the widest record range, −38.2°C in 1996 to 19.5°C in 1999; the tick on each bar is the month’s normal.
Where University Heights’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: a pool of Canadian towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, read alike; whole cities and reserves stay out of it.
- 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 University Heights’s climate
How warm does University Heights get in summer?
Expect highs near 23.5°C in July, the hottest month on average.
How cold does University Heights get in winter?
The year’s coldest nights belong to January, at about −13.5°C.
How much rain and snow does University Heights 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?
The ground is white, with 1 cm or more, on some 93 days a year.
Are these figures for University Heights itself?
Nearly: Calgary (Airport), the location behind them, sits just beyond University Heights’s boundary.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for University Heights →
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).