Hardly any Canadian towns collect less precipitation than Picture Butte: 373 mm a year
On a normal January night the air cools to about −12.1°C. By July afternoons alone, it runs hotter than 63% of Canadian towns. Some 38°C separates winter nights from summer afternoons. Have the furnace checked before October to April, the months that average under 10°C.
No ECCC station in Picture Butte has 1991–2020 normals; the page reads Lethbridge, 27 km south, instead.
A year in Picture Butte at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Picture Butte’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in Picture Butte feels like
Each season’s and each month’s usual high and low, 1991–2020.
175 frost days and 112 days above 20°C a year
From September to May frost is routine, and in December it comes on almost every night. On about 22 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
373 mm of precipitation in a typical year
June brings the most rain and snow; February, the least. Some 69 days a year see 1 mm of rain or snow or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
About 108 cm of snow a year
The snow season runs August to May; March brings the most, about 18 cm.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Heating a home in Picture Butte
88% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to April.
Degree days add up how far each day’s mean temperature falls below 18°C over a year.
Living with Picture Butte’s climate
The averages read for the garden, the outdoors and the coldest and hottest days.
Gardens get from about 21 May to 17 September without frost, around 118 days in all.
The comfortable months for a day outside, highs of 17–27°C and nights of 8°C or more: Jun, Jul and Aug.
Parks & trails →On some 41 days a year the wind chill drops past −20; mitts and a scarf earn their place.
Count on some 24 humid days a year with the humidex past 30.
Averages smooth over blizzards, ice storms, floods and heat waves; Picture Butte’s hazards page covers the risks.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Lethbridge
ECCC builds the Lethbridge normals from 4 stations’ records over 1991–2020, joined where one replaced another.
| Distance from the town | 27 km south |
| Station altitude | 929 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −41.9°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 40.1°C |
| Average wind | 17.1 km/h on average, most often from the west |
| Next-nearest location | Vauxhall, 50 km |
How Picture Butte 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 Picture Butte’s own would show the same figures). The nearest places to Picture Butte with figures are 39–48 km away.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Picture Butte Lethbridge | 26.3°C | −12.1°C | 373 mm |
| Barnwell 39 km · Vauxhall | 26.8°C 0.5°C warmer | −14.1°C 2.0°C colder | 373 mm |
| Fort Macleod 48 km · Claresholm | 25.2°C 1.1°C cooler | −13.2°C 1.1°C colder | 428 mm |
Picture Butte 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 | 0.1°C | −12.1°C | −6.0°C | 11 mm | 13 cm |
| February | 1.7°C | −11.0°C | −4.6°C | 10 mm | 15 cm |
| March | 6.4°C | −6.8°C | −0.2°C | 17 mm | 18 cm |
| April | 12.6°C | −1.3°C | 5.7°C | 28 mm | 13 cm |
| May | 18.2°C | 3.9°C | 11.1°C | 57 mm | 5 cm |
| June | 21.8°C | 8.3°C | 15.1°C | 93 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 26.3°C | 10.5°C | 18.4°C | 40 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 26.3°C | 9.4°C | 17.9°C | 33 mm | 1 cm |
| September | 21.0°C | 5.3°C | 13.2°C | 32 mm | 1 cm |
| October | 13.3°C | −0.6°C | 6.4°C | 24 mm | 10 cm |
| November | 5.5°C | −6.6°C | −0.5°C | 16 mm | 16 cm |
| December | 0.7°C | −11.2°C | −5.3°C | 12 mm | 15 cm |
| Year | 12.8°C | −1.0°C | 5.9°C | 373 mm | 108 cm |
A February here can run warm or cold, its average moving by about 4.8°C; the steadiest month is June
March has the widest record range, −38.0°C in 2002 to 26.8°C in 2004; the tick on each bar is the month’s normal.
Where Picture Butte’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: ECCC’s 1991–2020 Canadian Climate Normals for Lethbridge, the nearest location with a full year of temperatures.
- Comparisons: Canadian towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500, each placed by its nearest location (city totals and reserves excluded).
- 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 Picture Butte’s climate
How warm does Picture Butte get in summer?
Peak warmth comes in July, at about 26.3°C by mid-afternoon.
How cold does Picture Butte get in winter?
The year’s coldest nights belong to January, at about −12.1°C.
How much rain and snow does Picture Butte get?
June is the wettest month at 93 mm and February the driest at 10 mm, for 373 mm over the year.
Are these figures for Picture Butte itself?
No, they come from Lethbridge; ECCC keeps no 1991–2020 normals in Picture Butte itself.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Picture Butte →
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).