Photo: Shogged · CC BY-SA 4.0Opportunity No. 17 has some of the coolest summers among Canadian towns
Nights in January average −18.2°C. Winter and summer sit 40°C apart. Counting rain and snow together, it is drier than 94% of Canadian towns. Ice scrapers and block heaters earn their keep on roughly 202 days a year at 0°C or below.
Opportunity No. 17 has no ECCC normals station nearby: the figures come from Slave Lake, 97 km south-west, so read them as the wider area’s climate.
A year in Opportunity No. 17 at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Opportunity No. 17’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in Opportunity No. 17 feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals.
202 frost days and 68 days above 20°C a year
Frost comes from September to May; in December almost every night freezes. Some 36 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
422 mm of precipitation in a typical year
July brings the most rain and snow; March, the least. Some 85 days a year see 1 mm of rain or snow or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
About 93 cm of snow a year
Expect snow from October to May, with about 20 cm in January, the snowiest month.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Heating a home in Opportunity No. 17
86% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to May.
ECCC sums, over the year, how many degrees each day’s average falls short of 18°C. In heating terms, homes need more heating than 96% of Canadian towns.
Living with Opportunity No. 17’s climate
The averages read for the garden, the outdoors and the coldest and hottest days.
Gardens get from about 26 May to 16 September without frost, around 112 days in all.
Mild days and mild nights together (17–27°C by day, 8°C or more at night) belong to Jun, Jul and Aug.
Parks & trails →A wind chill below −20 is part of about 71 days a year here.
Roughly 6 days a year feel hotter than 30 once humidity is counted.
Thirty years of averages say little about one bad storm; Opportunity No. 17’s hazards page does.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Slave Lake
Slave Lake is a composite: ECCC joins 5 stations’ readings to make its 1991–2020 normals.
| Distance from the town | 97 km south-west |
| Station altitude | 583 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −44.0°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 34.9°C |
| Average wind | 12.5 km/h on average, most often from the east |
| Next-nearest location | Red Earth, 108 km |
How Opportunity No. 17 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
The nearest places on a normals location of their own: those that share Opportunity No. 17’s would only repeat its figures. The nearest place to Opportunity No. 17 with figures is 146 km away.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opportunity No. 17 Slave Lake | 21.8°C | −18.2°C | 422 mm |
| Athabasca 146 km · Lac la Biche | 23.1°C 1.3°C warmer | −19.1°C 0.9°C colder | 473 mm |
Opportunity No. 17 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 | −8.3°C | −18.2°C | −13.3°C | 19 mm | 20 cm |
| February | −4.8°C | −16.2°C | −10.5°C | 13 mm | 12 cm |
| March | 0.6°C | −10.8°C | −5.1°C | 13 mm | 12 cm |
| April | 8.5°C | −3.1°C | 2.7°C | 23 mm | 8 cm |
| May | 15.8°C | 3.0°C | 9.4°C | 41 mm | 1 cm |
| June | 19.6°C | 8.3°C | 14.0°C | 75 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 21.8°C | 10.9°C | 16.4°C | 77 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 20.9°C | 9.5°C | 15.2°C | 56 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 15.7°C | 4.4°C | 10.1°C | 42 mm | under 1 cm |
| October | 8.1°C | −1.4°C | 3.3°C | 27 mm | 8 cm |
| November | −1.1°C | −9.6°C | −5.3°C | 19 mm | 16 cm |
| December | −7.2°C | −16.6°C | −11.9°C | 16 mm | 16 cm |
| Year | 7.5°C | −3.3°C | 2.1°C | 422 mm | 93 cm |
A December here can run warm or cold, its average moving by about 4.2°C; the steadiest month is June
Over 1991–2020, January saw both −44.0°C (2004) and 16.3°C (2003), the widest span of any month.
Where Opportunity No. 17’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the 1991–2020 normals from ECCC for Slave Lake, its nearest location with complete temperatures.
- Comparisons: all Canadian places of 2,500 or more except city totals and reserves, each read the same way.
- 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 Opportunity No. 17’s climate
How warm does Opportunity No. 17 get in summer?
At its warmest, in July, the normal high is 21.8°C.
How cold does Opportunity No. 17 get in winter?
The coldest nights come in January, averaging −18.2°C.
How much rain and snow does Opportunity No. 17 get?
422 mm a year counting snow as water. The wettest month is July (77 mm); the driest, March (13 mm).
Are these figures for Opportunity No. 17 itself?
Not really: Slave Lake, the closest location with normals, lies well away from Opportunity No. 17.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Opportunity No. 17 →
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).