Photo: Thank you for visiting my page from Canada · CC BY 2.0Precipitation in Cochrane trails that of 82% of Canadian towns: 445 mm a year
The coldest hours of a January night bottom out at −13.5°C on average. Expect the most rain and snow in June and the least in January. In July, afternoons here are cooler than in 80% of Canadian towns. Homes need heating from October to May, the months averaging under 10°C.
The nearest ECCC normals location to Cochrane is Calgary (Airport), 33 km east, and every figure on this page is its.
A year in Cochrane at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Cochrane’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in Cochrane 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
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
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 Cochrane
85% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to May.
Behind the figure: the degrees each day’s mean falls under 18°C, summed for the year. Over a year, a home here needs more heating than 68% of Canadian towns.
Living with Cochrane’s climate
The averages read for the garden, the outdoors and the coldest and hottest days.
Wait until about 21 May to plant out; frost tends to come back around 18 September, about 119 days later.
For long days outdoors, Jul and Aug bring highs of 17–27°C and lows of 8°C or more.
Parks & trails →Plan for about 42 days a year with a wind chill below −20.
About 9 days a year feel above 30 on the humidex.
Storms, floods and heat waves sit outside these normals; Cochrane’s hazards page covers them.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Calgary (Airport)
Behind the 1991–2020 normals for Calgary (Airport) are 2 stations, which ECCC combines into one record.
| Distance from the town | 33 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, 67 km |
How Cochrane 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 Cochrane’s would only repeat its figures. Cochrane has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 27–50 km out.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cochrane Calgary (Airport) | 23.5°C | −13.5°C | 445 mm |
| Stoney 142, 143, 144 27 km · Banff | 22.5°C 1.0°C cooler | −13.5°C about the same | 454 mm |
| Carstairs 48 km · Sundre | 22.8°C 0.7°C cooler | −18.0°C 4.5°C colder | 496 mm |
Cochrane 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 |
The most changeable month: February, give or take 4.1°C; the steadiest, June
Over 1991–2020, December saw both −38.2°C (1996) and 19.5°C (1999), the widest span of any month.
Where Cochrane’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the 1991–2020 Canadian Climate Normals at Calgary (Airport), the closest ECCC location with twelve months of temperature normals.
- Comparisons: every place of 2,500+ in Canada but the city hubs and the reserves, each on its nearest ECCC location.
- Not on this page: sunshine, which none of ECCC’s 450 locations publishes for 1991–2020, and the town’s own height above sea level, so no figure is adjusted for altitude.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Cochrane’s climate
How warm does Cochrane get in summer?
A normal July afternoon tops out at about 23.5°C, the year’s high point.
How cold does Cochrane get in winter?
Winter bottoms out in January, with lows near −13.5°C.
How much rain and snow does Cochrane get?
Around 445 mm a year in all, from 113 mm in June down to 10 mm in January.
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 Cochrane itself?
No, they come from Calgary (Airport); ECCC keeps no 1991–2020 normals in Cochrane itself.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Cochrane →
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).