Few Canadian towns have cooler summers than Swan Hills
The depth of winter brings overnight lows near −16.0°C. Frosty nights outnumber those of 89% of Canadian towns. The gap between a January night and a July afternoon is 38°C. Expect about 197 frosty starts a year, days when the air falls to freezing.
Far-off figures: ECCC’s closest normals for Swan Hills come from Whitecourt, 69 km south, so take them as the area’s climate.
A year in Swan Hills at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Swan Hills’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in Swan Hills feels like
Each season’s and each month’s usual high and low, 1991–2020.
About 197 frosts and 74 warm days a year
The frost season runs September to May, and December freezes nearly every night. On about 29 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
Rain and melted snow: about 521 mm a year
The most falls in July, the least in February. 6th wettest of 479 towns of 2,500+ in Alberta. Some 92 days a year see 1 mm of rain or snow or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
About 175 cm of snow a year
The snow season runs September to May; January brings the most, about 35 cm. 7th snowiest of 475 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 Swan Hills
86% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to May.
The total grows by a degree for every degree a day’s mean sits under 18°C. In heating terms, homes need more heating than 83% of Canadian towns.
Living with Swan Hills’s climate
Gardening, time outside, winter cold and summer heat, from the 1991–2020 normals.
On average the last spring frost comes around 20 May and the first autumn frost around 15 September: about 118 frost-free days between.
Highs of 17–27°C with nights of 8°C or more come in Jul and Aug.
Parks & trails →For the weather that does damage, from ice storms to floods, see Swan Hills’s hazards page.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Whitecourt
ECCC builds the Whitecourt normals from 3 stations’ records over 1991–2020, joined where one replaced another.
| Distance from the town | 69 km south |
| Station altitude | 782 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −42.7°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 34.7°C |
| Next-nearest location | Slave Lake, 75 km |
How Swan Hills 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 Swan Hills’s would only repeat its figures. Swan Hills has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 74–92 km out.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swan Hills Whitecourt | 22.2°C | −16.0°C | 521 mm |
| Slave Lake 74 km · Slave Lake | 21.8°C about the same | −18.2°C 2.2°C colder | 422 mm |
| Barrhead County No. 11 84 km · Campsie | 23.5°C 1.3°C warmer | −19.0°C 3.0°C colder | 466 mm |
Swan Hills weather by month
Each month’s normals, 1991–2020: high, low, mean, precipitation and snowfall.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain & snow | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −6.7°C | −16.0°C | −11.4°C | 26 mm | 35 cm |
| February | −2.9°C | −13.3°C | −8.0°C | 15 mm | 20 cm |
| March | 2.0°C | −8.8°C | −3.3°C | 21 mm | 26 cm |
| April | 9.8°C | −1.8°C | 4.1°C | 30 mm | 17 cm |
| May | 16.4°C | 3.5°C | 9.8°C | 61 mm | 6 cm |
| June | 19.8°C | 7.8°C | 13.8°C | 90 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 22.2°C | 10.2°C | 16.2°C | 104 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 21.3°C | 8.9°C | 15.1°C | 62 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 16.3°C | 4.3°C | 10.5°C | 38 mm | 3 cm |
| October | 8.5°C | −1.4°C | 3.7°C | 28 mm | 19 cm |
| November | −1.0°C | −8.9°C | −5.0°C | 24 mm | 25 cm |
| December | −6.3°C | −14.7°C | −10.5°C | 22 mm | 25 cm |
| Year | 8.3°C | −2.5°C | 2.9°C | 521 mm | 175 cm |
January has run from −42.7°C to 16.9°C in thirty years
From one year to the next, February’s average typically shifts by 4.3°C around its normal of −8.0°C, the widest of any month, while June’s shifts by 0.8°C.
Where Swan Hills’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the closest ECCC location with twelve months of temperature normals, Whitecourt, 1991–2020.
- 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, which none of ECCC’s 450 locations publishes for 1991–2020, and the town’s own height above sea level, so no figure is adjusted for altitude.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Swan Hills’s climate
How warm does Swan Hills get in summer?
The warmest month is July, when afternoons average 22.2°C.
How cold does Swan Hills get in winter?
Winter bottoms out in January, with lows near −16.0°C.
How much rain and snow does Swan Hills get?
July is the wettest month at 104 mm and February the driest at 15 mm, for 521 mm over the year.
Are these figures for Swan Hills itself?
They are the figures for Whitecourt, which read better as the region’s climate than Swan Hills’s own.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Swan Hills →
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).