Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainOlds is among the frostiest of Canadian towns
On a normal July day the thermometer tops out near 22.8°C. The year is lopsided: June gets about 8.2 times what January does. Its July afternoons stay fresher than in 93% of Canadian towns. The heating season runs September to May: each of those months averages under 10°C.
ECCC publishes no normals for Olds itself; the figures are those of Sundre, 38 km west.
A year in Olds at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Olds’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in Olds feels like
Each season’s and each month’s usual high and low, 1991–2020.
About 233 frosts and 79 warm days a year
From September to June frost is routine, and in December it comes on almost every night. On about 42 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
About 496 mm of rain and snow a year
About 81 days a year bring 1 mm or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Snowfall: about 138 cm in a normal year
From September to May snow is likely; March is the peak, at about 23 cm.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
ECCC’s Sundre normals leave snowfall out; the figures here come from Red Deer, 46 km away.
Heating a home in Olds
83% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: September to May.
ECCC sums, over the year, how many degrees each day’s average falls short of 18°C. A house here needs more heating than 92% of Canadian towns.
Living with Olds’s climate
The averages read for the garden, the outdoors and the coldest and hottest days.
The growing season between frosts lasts about 72 days, roughly 13 June to 25 August.
Summer nights stay cool here: no month pairs 17–27°C afternoons with 8°C nights.
Parks & trails →Count on some 57 days a year when the wind makes it feel below −20.
Roughly 6 days a year feel hotter than 30 once humidity is counted.
A typical year is calm by definition; Olds’s hazards page covers the exceptions.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Sundre
Sundre is one of the 450 places where ECCC publishes 1991–2020 normals.
| Distance from the town | 38 km west |
| Station altitude | 1,114 m |
| Completeness | at least 20 years |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Snowfall from | Red Deer, 46 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −47.7°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 35.6°C |
| Average wind | 7.2 km/h on average, most often from the west |
| Next-nearest location | Red Deer, 46 km |
How Olds 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 Olds whose figures come from another normals location. Distances here run 16–46 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Olds.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Olds Sundre | 22.8°C | −18.0°C | 496 mm |
| Bowden 16 km · Red Deer | 22.9°C about the same | −17.6°C about the same | 483 mm |
| Crossfield 41 km · Calgary (Airport) | 23.5°C 0.7°C warmer | −13.5°C 4.5°C milder | 445 mm |
Olds 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 | −1.5°C | −18.0°C | −9.8°C | 13 mm | 20 cm |
| February | 0.5°C | −17.1°C | −8.3°C | 13 mm | 15 cm |
| March | 3.5°C | −11.7°C | −4.1°C | 21 mm | 23 cm |
| April | 9.7°C | −4.7°C | 2.5°C | 30 mm | 18 cm |
| May | 15.6°C | 0.3°C | 8.0°C | 63 mm | 10 cm |
| June | 19.3°C | 4.9°C | 12.1°C | 104 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 22.8°C | 7.7°C | 15.3°C | 85 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 22.0°C | 6.2°C | 14.1°C | 71 mm | under 1 cm |
| September | 17.4°C | 1.4°C | 9.4°C | 47 mm | 2 cm |
| October | 10.9°C | −4.5°C | 3.2°C | 20 mm | 10 cm |
| November | 3.4°C | −11.5°C | −4.1°C | 16 mm | 20 cm |
| December | −1.4°C | −17.2°C | −9.3°C | 16 mm | 19 cm |
| Year | 10.2°C | −5.4°C | 2.4°C | 496 mm | 138 cm |
The month with the widest range: December, −45.9°C to 18.6°C
Two years in three, February’s average falls within 4.2°C of its normal of −8.3°C; June keeps to within 0.9°C.
Where Olds’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: ECCC’s 1991–2020 Canadian Climate Normals for Sundre, the nearest location with a full year of temperatures.
- Other locations: ECCC blanks a month that fails its completeness rule, so the precipitation or snowfall here comes from the next location with all twelve months.
- 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, absent from every 1991–2020 location, and an altitude correction, for want of the town’s own elevation.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Olds’s climate
How warm does Olds get in summer?
Of all twelve months, July has the warmest afternoons, about 22.8°C.
How cold does Olds get in winter?
At its coldest, in January, the normal low is −18.0°C.
How much rain and snow does Olds get?
A normal year brings 496 mm, snow included as water: June is wettest at 104 mm, January driest at 13 mm.
Are these figures for Olds itself?
They are borrowed from Sundre, the nearest place to Olds where ECCC publishes 1991–2020 normals.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Olds →
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).