Varsity is drier than 82% of Canadian towns: 445 mm of rain and snow a year
Peak summer warmth arrives in July, with afternoons near 23.5°C. Of all months, June brings the most precipitation and January the least. Summers stay cool: July afternoons here are cooler than in 80% of Canadian towns. Frost comes on about 193 days a year, so leave time to clear the car.
Read at Calgary (Airport), 11 km east: ECCC’s normals for 1991–2020.
A year in Varsity at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Varsity’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in Varsity feels like
Seasons and months as ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals give them: a typical day’s high and low.
Frost on 193 days, 20°C on 87
Frost comes from September to May; in December almost every night freezes. Deep cold, under −20°C, comes on about 22 nights a year.
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
Snowfall: about 139 cm in a normal 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 Varsity
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 Varsity’s climate
What the normals mean for a garden, a day outside and the depth of winter.
A normal year gives the garden about 119 frost-free days, roughly 21 May to 18 September.
The comfortable months for a day outside, highs of 17–27°C and nights of 8°C or more: Jul and Aug.
Parks & trails →About 42 days a year bring a wind chill under −20, when bare skin chills fast.
About 9 days a year feel above 30 on the humidex.
What averages leave out, the floods and ice storms, is on Varsity’s hazards page.
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 | 11 km 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, 85 km |
How Varsity 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 Varsity’s own would show the same figures). Distances here run 49–70 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Varsity.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Varsity Calgary (Airport) | 23.5°C | −13.5°C | 445 mm |
| Stoney 142, 143, 144 49 km · Banff | 22.5°C 1.0°C cooler | −13.5°C about the same | 454 mm |
| Carstairs 52 km · Sundre | 22.8°C 0.7°C cooler | −18.0°C 4.5°C colder | 496 mm |
| Wheatland County 65 km · Queenstown | 25.0°C 1.5°C warmer | −13.7°C about the same | 412 mm |
Varsity 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 |
December has run from −38.2°C to 19.5°C in thirty years
Year to year, February varies most (a standard deviation of 4.1°C around −5.9°C) and June least (1.1°C).
Where Varsity’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: 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: 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 Varsity’s climate
How warm does Varsity get in summer?
The warmest month is July, when afternoons average 23.5°C.
How cold does Varsity get in winter?
At its coldest, in January, the normal low is −13.5°C.
How much rain and snow does Varsity get?
June is the wettest month at 113 mm and January the driest at 10 mm, for 445 mm over the year.
How long does snow stay on the ground?
A layer of at least 1 cm stays down on about 93 days a year.
Are these figures for Varsity itself?
Close to it: they are ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals for Calgary (Airport), just outside Varsity’s boundary.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Varsity →
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).