Photo: Erik Lizee · Public domainClearwater County is among the frostiest of Canadian towns
In July the day’s top temperature is typically 22.8°C. Summers stay cool: July afternoons here are cooler than in 93% of Canadian towns. Temperatures cover 41°C across the year, low to high. Wet days, with 1 mm of rain or snow or more, come about 81 times a year.
Every figure here comes from Sundre, 58 km south; ECCC has no normals closer to Clearwater County, so they describe the wider area.
A year in Clearwater County at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Clearwater County’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in Clearwater County feels like
Seasons and months as ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals give them: a typical day’s high and low.
About 233 frosts and 79 warm days a year
The frost season runs September to June, and December freezes nearly every night. Deep cold, under −20°C, comes on about 42 nights a year.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
496 mm of precipitation in a typical year
June brings the most rain and snow; January, the least.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
138 cm of snow in a typical year
From September to May snow is likely; March is the peak, at about 23 cm.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
ECCC’s Sundre normals leave snowfall out; the figures here come from Red Deer, 62 km away.
Heating a home in Clearwater County
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. By this count, homes here need more heating than 92% of Canadian towns.
Living with Clearwater County’s climate
Gardening, time outside, winter cold and summer heat, from the 1991–2020 normals.
On average the last spring frost comes around 13 June and the first autumn frost around 25 August: about 72 frost-free days between.
No month here brings highs of 17–27°C together with nights of 8°C or more.
Parks & trails →On some 57 days a year the wind chill drops past −20; mitts and a scarf earn their place.
On some 6 days a year the humidex climbs past 30.
Extremes don’t show in averages: floods, wildfire smoke and ice storms are on Clearwater County’s hazards page.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Sundre
The page’s figures are ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals for Sundre, one of its 450 normals locations.
| Distance from the town | 58 km south |
| Station altitude | 1,114 m |
| Completeness | at least 20 years |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Snowfall from | Red Deer, 62 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 | Red Deer, 62 km |
How Clearwater County 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
The nearest places on a normals location of their own: those that share Clearwater County’s would only repeat its figures. The one place listed is 28 km from Clearwater County, the nearest with figures.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clearwater County Sundre | 22.8°C | −18.0°C | 496 mm |
| Eckville 28 km · Red Deer | 22.9°C about the same | −17.6°C about the same | 483 mm |
Clearwater County 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 | 20 cm |
| February | 0.5°C | −17.1°C | −8.3°C | 13 mm | 15 cm |
| March | 3.5°C | −11.7°C | −4.1°C | 21 mm | 23 cm |
| April | 9.7°C | −4.7°C | 2.5°C | 30 mm | 18 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 | 0 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 | under 1 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 | 10 cm |
| November | 3.4°C | −11.5°C | −4.1°C | 16 mm | 20 cm |
| December | −1.4°C | −17.2°C | −9.3°C | 16 mm | 19 cm |
| Year | 10.2°C | −5.4°C | 2.4°C | 496 mm | 138 cm |
In December, anything from −45.9°C to 18.6°C
February is the least predictable month: about two years in three its average lands within 4.2°C of the normal, −8.3°C. June is the steadiest, within 0.9°C.
Where Clearwater County’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: where a location publishes no full year of precipitation or snowfall, the nearest one that does supplies it, named beside those figures.
- Comparisons: the towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ across Canada, each on its nearest normals location, without the city totals or the reserves.
- Not on this page: hours of sunshine, missing from the 1991–2020 normals, and a height correction: the town has no elevation on file.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Clearwater County’s climate
How warm does Clearwater County get in summer?
Midsummer means July, with afternoons near 22.8°C on a typical day.
How cold does Clearwater County get in winter?
Overnight lows average −18.0°C in January, the coldest month.
How much rain and snow does Clearwater County get?
Count on roughly 496 mm a year, heaviest in June (104 mm) and lightest in January (13 mm).
Are these figures for Clearwater County itself?
No: they come from Sundre, the nearest ECCC normals location, and far enough away to describe the wider area more than Clearwater County.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Clearwater County →
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).