Photo: Ken Eckert · CC BY-SA 4.0Less rain and snow fall on Drumheller than on 94% of Canadian towns: 412 mm a year
The depth of winter brings overnight lows near −17.6°C. About 195 nights a year bring a frost, more than in 88% of Canadian towns. Expect the most rain and snow in June and the least in February. Frost comes on about 195 days a year, so leave time to clear the car.
Figures: ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals at Drumheller East (1.9 km east).
A year in Drumheller at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Drumheller’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in Drumheller feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals.
195 frost days and 116 days above 20°C a year
From September to May frost is routine, and in December it comes on almost every night. Deep cold, under −20°C, comes on about 35 nights a year.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
Rain and melted snow: about 412 mm a year
On about 73 days a year, 1 mm or more falls.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
Precipitation and snowfall: Queenstown, 96 km away (Drumheller East records no complete year of either).
105 cm of snow in a typical year
Snow falls from September to May, most of all in March (about 18 cm).
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Heating a home in Drumheller
90% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to April.
Behind the figure: the degrees each day’s mean falls under 18°C, summed for the year. A house here needs more heating than 72% of Canadian towns.
Living with Drumheller’s climate
Gardening, time outside, winter cold and summer heat, from the 1991–2020 normals.
About 128 days a year pass without frost, from an average last frost of 14 May to a first of 21 September.
For long days outdoors, Jun, Jul and Aug bring highs of 17–27°C and lows of 8°C or more.
Parks & trails →Bitter wind chill, under −20, comes on about 57 days a year.
A humidex above 30 marks about 22 days in a normal year.
Severe weather is a separate story from the averages: see Drumheller’s hazards page.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Drumheller East
Every temperature, frost, snow and degree-day figure on this page is the 1991–2020 normal ECCC publishes for Drumheller East.
| Distance from the town | 1.9 km east |
| Station altitude | 678 m |
| Completeness | at least 20 years |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Precipitation from | Queenstown, 96 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −43.9°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 39.4°C |
| Average wind | 9.2 km/h on average, most often from the south-east |
| Next-nearest location | Queenstown, 96 km |
How Drumheller 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 Drumheller’s own would show the same figures). Distances here run 62–76 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Drumheller.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drumheller Drumheller East | 26.3°C | −17.6°C | 412 mm |
| Wheatland County 62 km · Queenstown | 25.0°C 1.3°C cooler | −13.7°C 3.9°C milder | 412 mm |
| Irricana 64 km · Calgary (Airport) | 23.5°C 2.8°C cooler | −13.5°C 4.1°C milder | 445 mm |
Drumheller 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 | −4.9°C | −17.6°C | −11.2°C | 14 mm | 14 cm |
| February | −1.7°C | −15.7°C | −8.7°C | 14 mm | 14 cm |
| March | 4.0°C | −9.3°C | −2.7°C | 19 mm | 18 cm |
| April | 12.6°C | −1.6°C | 5.5°C | 33 mm | 14 cm |
| May | 18.9°C | 4.4°C | 11.7°C | 62 mm | 6 cm |
| June | 22.5°C | 9.1°C | 15.8°C | 82 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 26.3°C | 11.6°C | 19.0°C | 54 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 25.9°C | 10.3°C | 18.2°C | 50 mm | under 1 cm |
| September | 20.5°C | 4.9°C | 12.7°C | 33 mm | 2 cm |
| October | 12.6°C | −1.6°C | 5.8°C | 18 mm | 8 cm |
| November | 2.6°C | −9.5°C | −3.4°C | 18 mm | 15 cm |
| December | −4.0°C | −16.3°C | −10.2°C | 15 mm | 14 cm |
| Year | 11.3°C | −2.6°C | 4.4°C | 412 mm | 105 cm |
March has run from −38.7°C to 28.0°C in thirty years
From one year to the next, February’s average typically shifts by 4.4°C around its normal of −8.7°C, the widest of any month, while June’s shifts by 1.0°C.
Where Drumheller’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: ECCC’s normals for Drumheller East, 1991–2020, chosen as the nearest location with a full temperature record.
- Other locations: a location missing months of precipitation or snow is filled from the nearest that has them all, never mixed month by month.
- 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, 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 Drumheller’s climate
How warm does Drumheller get in summer?
Peak warmth comes in July, at about 26.3°C by mid-afternoon.
How cold does Drumheller get in winter?
Overnight lows average −17.6°C in January, the coldest month.
How much rain and snow does Drumheller get?
June is the wettest month at 82 mm and February the driest at 14 mm, for 412 mm over the year.
Are these figures for Drumheller itself?
Yes: ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals for Drumheller East, which is in Drumheller.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Drumheller →
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).