Hardly any Canadian towns wake to more frost than Carstairs
Sunny July days climb to about 22.8°C. Precipitation follows the seasons: June brings about 8.2 times as much as January. Its July afternoons stay fresher than in 93% of Canadian towns. Heating does most of its work from September to May, in months below 10°C on average.
The nearest ECCC normals location to Carstairs is Sundre, 47 km north-west, and every figure on this page is its.
A year in Carstairs at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Carstairs’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in Carstairs feels like
Each season’s and each month’s usual high and low, 1991–2020.
About 233 frosts and 79 warm days a year
The frost season runs September to June, and December freezes nearly every night. Some 42 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
About 496 mm of rain and snow a year
On about 81 days a year, 1 mm or more falls.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
139 cm of snow in a typical year
Snow falls from September to May, most of all in March (about 24 cm).
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
ECCC’s Sundre normals leave snowfall out; the figures here come from Calgary (Airport), 49 km away.
Heating a home in Carstairs
83% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: September to May.
Every day colder than 18°C on average adds its gap in degrees to the year’s heating total. That means homes here need more heating than 92% of Canadian towns.
Living with Carstairs’s climate
The averages read for the garden, the outdoors and the coldest and hottest days.
About 72 days a year pass without frost, from an average last frost of 13 June to a first of 25 August.
Summer nights stay cool here: no month pairs 17–27°C afternoons with 8°C nights.
Parks & trails →Wind chill falls below −20 on about 57 days a year: cover skin and dress in layers.
Plan shade and water for about 6 days a year above 30 on the humidex.
Averages smooth over blizzards, ice storms, floods and heat waves; Carstairs’s hazards page covers the risks.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Sundre
Sundre is one of the 450 places where ECCC publishes 1991–2020 normals.
| Distance from the town | 47 km north-west |
| Station altitude | 1,114 m |
| Completeness | at least 20 years |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Snowfall from | Calgary (Airport), 49 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −47.7°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 35.6°C |
| Average wind | 7.2 km/h on average, most often from the west |
| Next-nearest location | Calgary (Airport), 49 km |
How Carstairs 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
The nearest places on a normals location of their own: those that share Carstairs’s would only repeat its figures. The nearest places to Carstairs with figures are 15–45 km away.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carstairs Sundre | 22.8°C | −18.0°C | 496 mm |
| Crossfield 15 km · Calgary (Airport) | 23.5°C 0.7°C warmer | −13.5°C 4.5°C milder | 445 mm |
| Bowden 42 km · Red Deer | 22.9°C about the same | −17.6°C about the same | 483 mm |
Carstairs weather by month
Month by month, 1991–2020: the usual high, low and mean, the rain and snow, and the snowfall.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain & snow | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −1.5°C | −18.0°C | −9.8°C | 13 mm | 17 cm |
| February | 0.5°C | −17.1°C | −8.3°C | 13 mm | 17 cm |
| March | 3.5°C | −11.7°C | −4.1°C | 21 mm | 24 cm |
| April | 9.7°C | −4.7°C | 2.5°C | 30 mm | 23 cm |
| May | 15.6°C | 0.3°C | 8.0°C | 63 mm | 10 cm |
| June | 19.3°C | 4.9°C | 12.1°C | 104 mm | under 1 cm |
| July | 22.8°C | 7.7°C | 15.3°C | 85 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 22.0°C | 6.2°C | 14.1°C | 71 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 17.4°C | 1.4°C | 9.4°C | 47 mm | 2 cm |
| October | 10.9°C | −4.5°C | 3.2°C | 20 mm | 12 cm |
| November | 3.4°C | −11.5°C | −4.1°C | 16 mm | 19 cm |
| December | −1.4°C | −17.2°C | −9.3°C | 16 mm | 16 cm |
| Year | 10.2°C | −5.4°C | 2.4°C | 496 mm | 139 cm |
December: −45.9°C at its coldest, 18.6°C at its warmest
From one year to the next, February’s average typically shifts by 4.2°C around its normal of −8.3°C, the widest of any month, while June’s shifts by 0.9°C.
Where Carstairs’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: ECCC’s normals for Sundre, 1991–2020, chosen as the nearest location with a full temperature record.
- Other locations: ECCC blanks a month that fails its completeness rule, so the precipitation or snowfall here comes from the next location with all twelve months.
- 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: 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 Carstairs’s climate
How warm does Carstairs get in summer?
Summer peaks in July: a typical afternoon reaches 22.8°C.
How cold does Carstairs get in winter?
A typical January night falls to −18.0°C, the year’s low point.
How much rain and snow does Carstairs get?
Rain and snow add up to about 496 mm of water a year; June brings the most (104 mm), January the least (13 mm).
Are these figures for Carstairs itself?
Not directly: Carstairs has no ECCC normals of its own, and Sundre stands in for it.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Carstairs →
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).