Less rain and snow fall on Fort Macleod than on 86% of Canadian towns: 428 mm a year
January mornings start at about −13.2°C. By frosts alone, it ranks colder than 75% of Canadian towns. Some 38°C separates winter nights from summer afternoons. Wet days, with 1 mm of rain or snow or more, come about 73 times a year.
These are not Fort Macleod’s own readings: ECCC keeps no normals there, so the page uses Claresholm, 35 km north-west.
A year in Fort Macleod at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Fort Macleod’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in Fort Macleod feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals.
191 frost days and 106 days above 20°C a year
Frost comes from September to May; in December almost every night freezes. 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
428 mm of precipitation in a typical year
June brings the most rain and snow; January, the least.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
About 111 cm of snow a year
From September to May snow is likely; March is the peak, at about 22 cm.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Heating a home in Fort Macleod
86% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to April.
One degree below 18°C for one day makes one heating degree day; the year’s days are added together.
Living with Fort Macleod’s climate
What the normals mean for a garden, a day outside and the depth of winter.
Gardens get from about 25 May to 13 September without frost, around 110 days in all.
Mild days and mild nights together (17–27°C by day, 8°C or more at night) belong to Jul and Aug.
Parks & trails →Roughly 41 days a year feel colder than −20 in the wind.
Plan shade and water for about 17 days a year above 30 on the humidex.
Ice storms, floods and heat waves are risks, not averages: they are on Fort Macleod’s hazards page.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Claresholm
ECCC builds the Claresholm normals from 2 stations’ records over 1991–2020, joined where one replaced another.
| Distance from the town | 35 km north-west |
| Station altitude | 1,009 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | Yes |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −41.8°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 39.7°C |
| Average wind | 12.6 km/h on average, most often from the north |
| Next-nearest location | Lethbridge, 44 km |
How Fort Macleod compares
Compared with 2,611 towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more across Canada; the dots mark the other normals locations in Alberta.
Nearby towns’ climate
Places around Fort Macleod whose figures come from another normals location. No closer places have figures: these lie 30–43 km from Fort Macleod.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Macleod Claresholm | 25.2°C | −13.2°C | 428 mm |
| Nobleford 30 km · Lethbridge | 26.3°C 1.1°C warmer | −12.1°C 1.1°C milder | 373 mm |
| Piikani 147 31 km · Pincher Creek | 24.2°C 1.0°C cooler | −10.4°C 2.8°C milder | 550 mm |
| Blood 148 43 km · Carway | 24.0°C 1.2°C cooler | −10.9°C 2.3°C milder | 534 mm |
Fort Macleod weather by month
Month by month, 1991–2020: the usual high, low and mean, the rain and snow, and the snowfall.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain & snow | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0.4°C | −13.2°C | −6.4°C | 13 mm | 15 cm |
| February | 1.8°C | −12.0°C | −5.1°C | 15 mm | 17 cm |
| March | 5.9°C | −7.7°C | −0.9°C | 22 mm | 22 cm |
| April | 11.7°C | −2.3°C | 4.7°C | 33 mm | 12 cm |
| May | 17.3°C | 2.8°C | 10.1°C | 68 mm | 6 cm |
| June | 20.9°C | 7.0°C | 14.0°C | 93 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 25.2°C | 9.3°C | 17.2°C | 47 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 25.1°C | 8.3°C | 16.7°C | 43 mm | under 1 cm |
| September | 20.0°C | 3.8°C | 11.9°C | 42 mm | 1 cm |
| October | 12.9°C | −1.7°C | 5.6°C | 20 mm | 7 cm |
| November | 5.4°C | −7.6°C | −1.1°C | 18 mm | 16 cm |
| December | 0.9°C | −12.5°C | −5.8°C | 16 mm | 15 cm |
| Year | 12.3°C | −2.2°C | 5.1°C | 428 mm | 111 cm |
A February here can run warm or cold, its average moving by about 4.9°C; the steadiest month is June
Records from 1991 to 2020: no month spans more than February, between −40.0°C (1994) and 24.0°C (1992).
Where Fort Macleod’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the Canadian Climate Normals, 1991–2020, at Claresholm (the closest location with all twelve months of temperatures).
- Comparisons: the towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ across Canada, each on its nearest normals location, without the city totals or the reserves.
- Not on this page: a sunshine figure (ECCC published none for 1991–2020) and any lapse-rate correction for height, as the town has no elevation here.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Fort Macleod’s climate
How warm does Fort Macleod get in summer?
The year’s warmest days come in July, with highs averaging 25.2°C.
How cold does Fort Macleod get in winter?
Deep winter means January, when nights average −13.2°C.
How much rain and snow does Fort Macleod get?
Rain and snow add up to about 428 mm of water a year; June brings the most (93 mm), January the least (13 mm).
Are these figures for Fort Macleod itself?
Only indirectly: the readings are made at Claresholm, outside Fort Macleod.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Fort Macleod →
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).