Photo: Festbock · CC BY-SA 3.0Medicine Hat sits near the bottom of Canadian towns for rain and snow, with 331 mm a year
The depth of winter brings overnight lows near −14.1°C. Of the 478 towns of 2,500+ in Alberta, it has the warmest July afternoons. Some 42°C separates winter nights from summer afternoons. About 57 days a year bring 1 mm of precipitation or more.
Measured at Medicine Hat, 3.6 km west: ECCC’s normals for 1991–2020.
A year in Medicine Hat at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Medicine Hat’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in Medicine Hat feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals.
Frost on 176 days, 20°C on 121
From September to May frost is routine, and in December it comes on almost every night. Some 22 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 331 mm a year
June brings the most rain and snow; February, the least. 473rd wettest of 478 towns of 2,500+ in Alberta.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
85 cm of snow in a typical year
Snow falls from September to May, most of all in January (about 17 cm). 471st snowiest of 474 towns of 2,500+ in Alberta.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
Heating a home in Medicine Hat
90% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to April.
Each day the mean sits under 18°C adds its shortfall; a year’s total is its heating degree days.
Living with Medicine Hat’s climate
What the normals mean for a garden, a day outside and the depth of winter.
The frost-free stretch runs from about 12 May to about 25 September, some 135 days in a normal year.
Highs of 17–27°C with nights of 8°C or more come in Jun.
Parks & trails →On some 45 days a year the wind chill drops past −20; mitts and a scarf earn their place.
Plan shade and water for about 28 days a year above 30 on the humidex.
Thirty years of averages say little about one bad storm; Medicine Hat’s hazards page does.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Medicine Hat
ECCC builds the Medicine Hat normals from 4 stations’ records over 1991–2020, joined where one replaced another.
| Distance from the town | 3.6 km west |
| Station altitude | 717 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −39.3°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 40.4°C |
| Average wind | 13.1 km/h on average, most often from the south-west |
| Next-nearest location | Maple Creek, 87 km |
How Medicine Hat compares
Placed among 2,611 Canadian towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+, each on its nearest normals location; each dot is another location used in Alberta.
Nearby towns’ climate
The nearest places on a normals location of their own: those that share Medicine Hat’s would only repeat its figures. No closer places have figures: these lie 68–105 km from Medicine Hat.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medicine Hat | 27.7°C | −14.1°C | 331 mm |
| Forty Mile County No. 8 68 km · Vauxhall | 26.8°C 0.9°C cooler | −14.1°C about the same | 331 mm |
| Maple Creek No. 111 85 km · Maple Creek | 27.1°C 0.6°C cooler | −14.8°C 0.7°C colder | 331 mm |
Medicine Hat 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 | −2.9°C | −14.1°C | −8.5°C | 14 mm | 17 cm |
| February | −0.6°C | −12.2°C | −6.4°C | 10 mm | 10 cm |
| March | 5.9°C | −6.6°C | −0.3°C | 16 mm | 15 cm |
| April | 13.5°C | −0.5°C | 6.6°C | 23 mm | 5 cm |
| May | 19.2°C | 5.1°C | 12.1°C | 45 mm | 6 cm |
| June | 23.1°C | 9.7°C | 16.4°C | 76 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 27.7°C | 12.4°C | 20.1°C | 35 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 27.2°C | 11.5°C | 19.4°C | 34 mm | 1 cm |
| September | 21.3°C | 6.3°C | 13.8°C | 31 mm | 1 cm |
| October | 13.2°C | −0.2°C | 6.6°C | 20 mm | 5 cm |
| November | 4.6°C | −7.0°C | −1.2°C | 14 mm | 13 cm |
| December | −1.4°C | −12.4°C | −6.9°C | 12 mm | 12 cm |
| Year | 12.6°C | −0.7°C | 6.0°C | 331 mm | 85 cm |
The most changeable month: February, give or take 5.1°C; the steadiest, June
Records from 1991 to 2020: no month spans more than March, between −37.4°C (2019) and 25.6°C (2004).
Where Medicine Hat’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the 1991–2020 Canadian Climate Normals at Medicine Hat, the closest ECCC location with twelve months of temperature normals.
- 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 (no 1991–2020 normals exist for it) and any altitude adjustment, since there is no elevation for the town itself.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Medicine Hat’s climate
How warm does Medicine Hat get in summer?
Peak warmth comes in July, at about 27.7°C by mid-afternoon.
How cold does Medicine Hat get in winter?
The year’s coldest nights belong to January, at about −14.1°C.
How much rain and snow does Medicine Hat get?
The yearly total is about 331 mm. June gets 76 mm, the most of any month; February gets 10 mm, the least.
How long does snow stay on the ground?
About 78 days a year count as snow-covered, with 1 cm or more.
Are these figures for Medicine Hat itself?
They are: the normals station that gives them stands in Medicine Hat.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Medicine Hat →
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).