Less rain and snow fall on Ritchie than on 90% of Canadian towns: 423 mm a year
The depth of winter brings overnight lows near −14.7°C. In July, afternoons here are cooler than in 80% of Canadian towns. Expect the most rain and snow in July and the least in February. Windshields need scraping on about 179 mornings a year, the days the air reaches 0°C or below.
Figures: ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals for Edmonton (City) (6.8 km north-west).
A year in Ritchie at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Ritchie’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in Ritchie feels like
Each season’s and each month’s usual high and low, 1991–2020.
Frost on 179 days, 20°C on 90
The frost season runs September to May, and January freezes nearly every night. Some 24 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 423 mm a year
About 72 days a year bring 1 mm or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
Snowfall: about 124 cm in a normal year
Snow falls from October to May, most of all in January (about 26 cm).
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
Heating a home in Ritchie
89% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to April.
Measured against 18°C: each day’s shortfall in mean temperature, added over twelve months. That means homes here need more heating than 76% of Canadian towns.
Living with Ritchie’s climate
What the normals mean for a garden, a day outside and the depth of winter.
Gardens get from about 7 May to 25 September without frost, around 141 days in all.
Warm afternoons without cold nights, 17–27°C and 8°C or more, mark Jun, Jul and Aug.
Parks & trails →Roughly 50 days a year feel colder than −20 in the wind.
Humid heat, a humidex over 30, comes on about 11 days a year.
Bad-weather days, from blizzards to floods, get their own page for Ritchie: the hazards page.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Edmonton (City)
ECCC builds the Edmonton (City) normals from 3 stations’ records over 1991–2020, joined where one replaced another.
| Distance from the town | 6.8 km north-west |
| Station altitude | 671 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −37.8°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 34.9°C |
| Average wind | 12.2 km/h on average, most often from the west |
| Next-nearest location | Edmonton (Airport), 23 km |
How Ritchie 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 Ritchie whose figures come from another normals location. No closer places have figures: these lie 18–29 km from Ritchie.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ritchie Edmonton (City) | 23.5°C | −14.7°C | 423 mm |
| Beaumont 18 km · Edmonton (Airport) | 23.0°C 0.5°C cooler | −18.1°C 3.4°C colder | 434 mm |
| Fort Saskatchewan 25 km · Fort Saskatchewan | 23.6°C about the same | −17.8°C 3.1°C colder | 473 mm |
Ritchie 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 | −5.8°C | −14.7°C | −10.3°C | 20 mm | 26 cm |
| February | −3.0°C | −12.7°C | −7.9°C | 12 mm | 13 cm |
| March | 1.7°C | −7.8°C | −3.1°C | 17 mm | 19 cm |
| April | 10.4°C | −0.7°C | 4.9°C | 29 mm | 15 cm |
| May | 17.5°C | 5.6°C | 11.6°C | 44 mm | 5 cm |
| June | 21.0°C | 10.2°C | 15.6°C | 70 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 23.5°C | 12.6°C | 18.1°C | 83 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 22.6°C | 11.3°C | 17.0°C | 61 mm | under 1 cm |
| September | 17.6°C | 6.2°C | 11.9°C | 39 mm | 1 cm |
| October | 10.0°C | −0.1°C | 5.0°C | 21 mm | 11 cm |
| November | 0.6°C | −7.5°C | −3.5°C | 18 mm | 20 cm |
| December | −4.7°C | −13.2°C | −9.0°C | 12 mm | 15 cm |
| Year | 9.3°C | −0.9°C | 4.2°C | 423 mm | 124 cm |
A March here can run from −34.0°C to 23.9°C
Bars run from each month’s record low to its record high over 1991–2020; February is the month whose average wanders most from year to year (±4.2°C around −7.9°C), June the one that wanders least (±1.0°C).
Where Ritchie’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: ECCC’s 1991–2020 Canadian Climate Normals for Edmonton (City), the nearest location with a full year of temperatures.
- 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: sunshine, not in ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals, and the effect of the town’s height, for which there is no figure.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Ritchie’s climate
How warm does Ritchie get in summer?
On a normal day in July the thermometer climbs to 23.5°C, the warmest of the year.
How cold does Ritchie get in winter?
Winter bottoms out in January, with lows near −14.7°C.
How much rain and snow does Ritchie get?
Precipitation totals 423 mm a year, with July the wettest month (83 mm) and February the driest (12 mm).
Are these figures for Ritchie itself?
Almost: ECCC’s Edmonton (City) location, which gives these figures, lies a short way outside Ritchie.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Ritchie →
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).