Photo: Nathan Schneider, aka Schnits at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Penhold is among the frostiest of Canadian towns
Midsummer highs settle at about 22.9°C. Summers stay cool: July afternoons here are cooler than in 92% of Canadian towns. A year here swings 41°C from midwinter lows to midsummer highs. Plan for rain or snow on about 81 days a year, the days with 1 mm or more.
Penhold has no ECCC normals station of its own: every figure here comes from Red Deer, 5.3 km north.
A year in Penhold at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Penhold’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in Penhold feels like
Seasons and months as ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals give them: a typical day’s high and low.
212 frost days and 85 days above 20°C a year
The frost season runs September to May, and January freezes nearly every night. Deep cold, under −20°C, comes on about 34 nights a year.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
Rain and melted snow: about 483 mm a year
The most falls in June, the least in February.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
138 cm of snow in a typical year
Snow falls from September to May, most of all in March (about 23 cm).
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snow on the ground by month
Centimetres at month’s end
Heating a home in Penhold
86% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to May.
A day averaging 10 degrees under 18°C adds 10 to the total; warm days add nothing. By this count, homes here need more heating than 84% of Canadian towns.
Living with Penhold’s climate
The averages read for the garden, the outdoors and the coldest and hottest days.
The frost-free stretch runs from about 22 May to about 12 September, some 112 days in a normal year.
Mild days and mild nights together (17–27°C by day, 8°C or more at night) belong to Jul.
Parks & trails →Roughly 64 days a year feel colder than −20 in the wind.
Muggy heat with a humidex over 30 arrives on about 9 days a year.
Storms, floods and heat waves sit outside these normals; Penhold’s hazards page covers them.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Red Deer
ECCC builds the Red Deer normals from 3 stations’ records over 1991–2020, joined where one replaced another.
| Distance from the town | 5.3 km north |
| Station altitude | 905 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −43.8°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 36.3°C |
| Average wind | 11.0 km/h on average, most often from the south |
| Next-nearest location | Sundre, 68 km |
How Penhold 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
Nearby places read from a different ECCC location (places on Penhold’s own would show the same figures). The nearest places to Penhold with figures are 42–63 km away.
Penhold weather by month
Each month’s normals, 1991–2020: high, low, mean, precipitation and snowfall.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain & snow | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −5.6°C | −17.6°C | −11.6°C | 16 mm | 20 cm |
| February | −3.5°C | −16.1°C | −9.8°C | 12 mm | 15 cm |
| March | 1.3°C | −10.5°C | −4.6°C | 19 mm | 23 cm |
| April | 10.1°C | −3.0°C | 3.6°C | 28 mm | 18 cm |
| May | 16.8°C | 2.7°C | 9.7°C | 58 mm | 10 cm |
| June | 20.0°C | 7.4°C | 13.7°C | 98 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 22.9°C | 9.4°C | 16.2°C | 90 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 22.4°C | 7.9°C | 15.2°C | 70 mm | under 1 cm |
| September | 17.8°C | 3.0°C | 10.4°C | 38 mm | 2 cm |
| October | 10.4°C | −3.4°C | 3.5°C | 22 mm | 10 cm |
| November | 1.1°C | −10.5°C | −4.7°C | 17 mm | 20 cm |
| December | −4.4°C | −16.2°C | −10.3°C | 14 mm | 19 cm |
| Year | 9.1°C | −3.9°C | 2.6°C | 483 mm | 138 cm |
In March, anything from −38.0°C to 24.8°C
Two years in three, February’s average falls within 4.3°C of its normal of −9.8°C; June keeps to within 0.9°C.
Where Penhold’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: Environment and Climate Change Canada’s 1991–2020 normals, Red Deer: the nearest of its locations with every month’s temperatures.
- 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: 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 Penhold’s climate
How warm does Penhold get in summer?
Highs reach 22.9°C on an average July day; no month is warmer.
How cold does Penhold get in winter?
In January, the coldest month, the typical low is −17.6°C.
How much rain and snow does Penhold get?
A normal year brings 483 mm, snow included as water: June is wettest at 98 mm, February driest at 12 mm.
How long does snow stay on the ground?
Snow covers the ground, 1 cm or more, on about 129 days a year.
Are these figures for Penhold itself?
No, the station behind them is Red Deer, beyond Penhold’s boundary.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Penhold →
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).