Sakaw is drier than 90% of Canadian towns: 423 mm of rain and snow a year
January mornings start at about −14.7°C. Summers stay cool: July afternoons here are cooler than in 80% of Canadian towns. Of all months, July brings the most precipitation and February the least. An umbrella or a shovel earns its place on about 72 days a year with 1 mm or more.
Environment and Climate Change Canada’s 1991–2020 normals at its Edmonton (City) station, 15 km north-west.
A year in Sakaw at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Sakaw’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in Sakaw feels like
Each season’s and each month’s usual high and low, 1991–2020.
About 179 frosts and 90 warm days a year
From September to May frost is routine, and in January it comes on almost every night. On about 24 nights a year the air falls below −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
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
Snowfall: about 124 cm in a normal year
Expect snow from October to May, with about 26 cm in January, the snowiest month.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
Heating a home in Sakaw
89% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to April.
A heating degree day is one degree of shortfall below 18°C for one day, summed over the year. A house here needs more heating than 76% of Canadian towns.
Living with Sakaw’s climate
The averages read for the garden, the outdoors and the coldest and hottest days.
Between the last frost, near 7 May, and the first, near 25 September, lie about 141 frost-free days.
The outdoor season by the averages is Jun, Jul and Aug, with highs of 17–27°C and lows of 8°C or more.
Parks & trails →Bitter wind chill, under −20, comes on about 50 days a year.
Humid heat, a humidex over 30, comes on about 11 days a year.
A normal year has no blizzard, flood or heat wave in it; Sakaw’s hazards page looks at those.
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 | 15 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), 17 km |
How Sakaw 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 Sakaw’s would only repeat its figures. Distances here run 10–30 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Sakaw.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sakaw Edmonton (City) | 23.5°C | −14.7°C | 423 mm |
| Beaumont 10 km · Edmonton (Airport) | 23.0°C 0.5°C cooler | −18.1°C 3.4°C colder | 434 mm |
| Fort Saskatchewan 30 km · Fort Saskatchewan | 23.6°C about the same | −17.8°C 3.1°C colder | 473 mm |
Sakaw weather by month
Each month’s normals, 1991–2020: high, low, mean, precipitation and snowfall.
| 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 |
February varies most from one year to the next (4.2°C), June least
Over 1991–2020, March saw both −34.0°C (2003) and 23.9°C (2004), the widest span of any month.
Where Sakaw’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: 1991–2020 normals for Edmonton (City) from ECCC’s climate data site, the nearest location with every month of temperature.
- Comparisons: Canadian towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500, each placed by its nearest location (city totals and reserves excluded).
- 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 Sakaw’s climate
How warm does Sakaw get in summer?
In July, the warmest month, the typical high is 23.5°C.
How cold does Sakaw get in winter?
On a normal January night the air drops to −14.7°C, the coldest of the year.
How much rain and snow does Sakaw get?
Rain and snow, with snow counted as water, total 423 mm a year; July leads with 83 mm and February trails with 12 mm.
Are these figures for Sakaw itself?
Almost: ECCC’s Edmonton (City) location, which gives these figures, lies a short way outside Sakaw.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Sakaw →
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).