Photo: Joseph Fred Spalding · Public domainThe climate in Crowsnest Pass sits close to the middle of Canadian towns
About 550 mm of rain and snow falls in a typical year; July afternoons reach 24.2°C and January nights drop to −10.4°C. The wettest month is June; the driest is January. Its July afternoons stay fresher than in 69% of Canadian towns. About 82 days a year bring 1 mm of precipitation or more.
Crowsnest Pass has no ECCC normals station of its own: every figure here comes from Pincher Creek, 34 km east.
A year in Crowsnest Pass at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Crowsnest Pass’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in Crowsnest Pass feels like
Seasons and months as ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals give them: a typical day’s high and low.
172 frost days and 88 days above 20°C a year
Frost comes from September to May; in December almost every night freezes. Some 19 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 550 mm a year
The wettest of 478 towns of 2,500+ in Alberta.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Snowfall: about 280 cm in a normal year
The snow season runs September to June; December brings the most, about 60 cm. The snowiest of 474 towns of 2,500+ in Alberta.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Pincher Creek publishes no full year of snowfall, so these figures come from Sparwood, 34 km away.
Heating a home in Crowsnest Pass
84% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to May.
ECCC sums, over the year, how many degrees each day’s average falls short of 18°C.
Living with Crowsnest Pass’s climate
Gardening, time outside, winter cold and summer heat, from the 1991–2020 normals.
Gardens get from about 24 May to 12 September without frost, around 110 days in all.
The outdoor season by the averages is Jul and Aug, with highs of 17–27°C and lows of 8°C or more.
Parks & trails →A wind chill below −20 is part of about 42 days a year here.
On some 10 days a year the humidex climbs past 30.
The normals describe a typical year, not its worst days; the hazards page covers Crowsnest Pass’s.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Pincher Creek
Behind the 1991–2020 normals for Pincher Creek are 4 stations, which ECCC combines into one record.
| Distance from the town | 34 km east |
| Station altitude | 1,190 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Snowfall from | Sparwood, 34 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −38.8°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 37.5°C |
| Average wind | 21.6 km/h on average, most often from the west |
| Next-nearest location | Sparwood, 34 km |
How Crowsnest Pass 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
Places around Crowsnest Pass whose figures come from another normals location. Crowsnest Pass has no close neighbour with figures; the nearest is 34 km away.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crowsnest Pass Pincher Creek | 24.2°C | −10.4°C | 550 mm |
| Sparwood 34 km · Sparwood | 24.9°C 0.7°C warmer | −10.7°C about the same | 614 mm |
Crowsnest Pass weather by month
Average daily high and low, mean temperature, rain and snow (as water) and snowfall by month, 1991–2020.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain & snow | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −0.4°C | −10.4°C | −5.4°C | 14 mm | 50 cm |
| February | 0.6°C | −10.0°C | −4.7°C | 22 mm | 42 cm |
| March | 4.5°C | −6.7°C | −1.1°C | 30 mm | 38 cm |
| April | 10.1°C | −2.0°C | 4.1°C | 43 mm | 19 cm |
| May | 15.7°C | 2.8°C | 9.2°C | 72 mm | 8 cm |
| June | 19.3°C | 6.8°C | 13.0°C | 116 mm | 1 cm |
| July | 24.2°C | 9.1°C | 16.6°C | 50 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 24.3°C | 8.3°C | 16.4°C | 47 mm | under 1 cm |
| September | 18.6°C | 4.7°C | 11.7°C | 65 mm | 4 cm |
| October | 11.1°C | −0.3°C | 5.4°C | 37 mm | 11 cm |
| November | 3.8°C | −5.4°C | −0.8°C | 25 mm | 47 cm |
| December | −0.5°C | −9.7°C | −5.1°C | 28 mm | 60 cm |
| Year | 10.9°C | −1.1°C | 4.9°C | 550 mm | 280 cm |
February varies most from one year to the next (4.6°C), June least
The thirty-year records stretch furthest in March: a low of −36.5°C in 2002 and a high of 22.6°C in 2004.
Where Crowsnest Pass’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the 1991–2020 normals from ECCC for Pincher Creek, its nearest location with complete temperatures.
- Other locations: precipitation and snowfall come from the nearest location that publishes all twelve months of them, as named above.
- Comparisons: Canada’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ (no city totals, no reserves), each through its own nearest location.
- 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 Crowsnest Pass’s climate
How warm does Crowsnest Pass get in summer?
Midsummer means August, with afternoons near 24.3°C on a typical day.
How cold does Crowsnest Pass get in winter?
Overnight lows average −10.4°C in January, the coldest month.
How much rain and snow does Crowsnest Pass get?
Rain and snow, with snow counted as water, total 550 mm a year; June leads with 116 mm and January trails with 14 mm.
Are these figures for Crowsnest Pass itself?
Not as such: Pincher Creek is the nearest normals location, and Crowsnest Pass has none.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Crowsnest Pass →
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).