Photo: Rural Health Professions Action Plan from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada · CC BY 2.0Three Hills gets more frosts than 88% of Canadian towns
On a normal July day the thermometer tops out near 26.3°C. Counting rain and snow together, it is drier than 77% of Canadian towns. Some 44°C separates winter nights from summer afternoons. From June to August, highs of 23–26°C make it easy to spend the day outdoors.
Borrowed figures: Three Hills has no normals station, so these come from Drumheller East, 49 km south-east.
A year in Three Hills at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Three Hills’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in Three Hills feels like
Each season’s and each month’s usual high and low, 1991–2020.
Frost on 195 days, 20°C on 116
The frost season runs September to May, and December freezes nearly every night. Some 35 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
About 483 mm of rain and snow a year
The most falls in June, the least in February. About 81 days a year bring 1 mm or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
Drumheller East publishes no full year of precipitation or snowfall, so these figures, and the snow below, come from Red Deer, 68 km away.
138 cm of snow in a typical year
The snow season runs September to May; March brings the most, about 23 cm.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Heating a home in Three Hills
90% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to April.
Heating degree days total each day’s gap between its mean temperature and 18°C. A house here needs more heating than 72% of Canadian towns.
Living with Three Hills’s climate
Gardening, time outside, winter cold and summer heat, from the 1991–2020 normals.
The growing season between frosts lasts about 128 days, roughly 14 May to 21 September.
For long days outdoors, Jun, Jul and Aug bring highs of 17–27°C and lows of 8°C or more.
Parks & trails →Count on some 57 days a year when the wind makes it feel below −20.
Humid heat, a humidex over 30, comes on about 22 days a year.
Ice storms, floods and heat waves are risks, not averages: they are on Three Hills’s hazards page.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Drumheller East
Drumheller East is one of the 450 places where ECCC publishes 1991–2020 normals.
| Distance from the town | 49 km south-east |
| Station altitude | 678 m |
| Completeness | at least 20 years |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Precipitation from | Red Deer, 68 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −43.9°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 39.4°C |
| Average wind | 9.2 km/h on average, most often from the south-east |
| Next-nearest location | Red Deer, 68 km |
How Three 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 Three Hills’s would only repeat its figures. The nearest places to Three Hills with figures are 49–60 km away.
Three Hills 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 | −4.9°C | −17.6°C | −11.2°C | 16 mm | 20 cm |
| February | −1.7°C | −15.7°C | −8.7°C | 12 mm | 15 cm |
| March | 4.0°C | −9.3°C | −2.7°C | 19 mm | 23 cm |
| April | 12.6°C | −1.6°C | 5.5°C | 28 mm | 18 cm |
| May | 18.9°C | 4.4°C | 11.7°C | 58 mm | 10 cm |
| June | 22.5°C | 9.1°C | 15.8°C | 98 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 26.3°C | 11.6°C | 19.0°C | 90 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 25.9°C | 10.3°C | 18.2°C | 70 mm | under 1 cm |
| September | 20.5°C | 4.9°C | 12.7°C | 38 mm | 2 cm |
| October | 12.6°C | −1.6°C | 5.8°C | 22 mm | 10 cm |
| November | 2.6°C | −9.5°C | −3.4°C | 17 mm | 20 cm |
| December | −4.0°C | −16.3°C | −10.2°C | 14 mm | 19 cm |
| Year | 11.3°C | −2.6°C | 4.4°C | 483 mm | 138 cm |
The month with the widest range: March, −38.7°C to 28.0°C
February is the least predictable month: about two years in three its average lands within 4.4°C of the normal, −8.7°C. June is the steadiest, within 1.0°C.
Where Three Hills’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the 1991–2020 normals from ECCC for Drumheller East, its nearest location with complete 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: 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: hours of sunshine, missing from the 1991–2020 normals, and a height correction: the town has no elevation on file.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Three Hills’s climate
How warm does Three Hills get in summer?
The year’s warmest days come in July, with highs averaging 26.3°C.
How cold does Three Hills get in winter?
In January, the coldest month, the typical low is −17.6°C.
How much rain and snow does Three Hills get?
About 483 mm a year, rain and melted snow together. June is the wettest month (98 mm) and February the driest (12 mm).
Are these figures for Three Hills itself?
They describe Drumheller East, the nearest normals location, rather than Three Hills itself.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Three 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).