Photo: Carsell: Photographer · Public domainWainwright sits near the top of Canadian towns for frosts
July afternoons average 23.5°C. Winter and summer sit 43°C apart. Its yearly rain and snow fall short of 86% of Canadian towns. An umbrella or a shovel earns its place on about 74 days a year with 1 mm or more.
ECCC publishes no normals for Wainwright itself; the figures are those of Fabyan, 18 km north-west.
A year in Wainwright at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Wainwright’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in Wainwright feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals.
About 213 frosts and 88 warm days a year
From September to May frost is routine, and in January it comes on almost every night. Some 42 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 425 mm of rain and snow a year
June brings the most rain and snow; February, the least.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
About 99 cm of snow a year
The snow season runs October to May; January brings the most, about 19 cm.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Heating a home in Wainwright
88% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to April.
ECCC sums, over the year, how many degrees each day’s average falls short of 18°C. Over a year, a home here needs more heating than 97% of Canadian towns.
Living with Wainwright’s climate
What the normals mean for a garden, a day outside and the depth of winter.
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 →Bad-weather days, from blizzards to floods, get their own page for Wainwright: the hazards page.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Fabyan
Every temperature, frost, snow and degree-day figure on this page is the 1991–2020 normal ECCC publishes for Fabyan.
| Distance from the town | 18 km north-west |
| Station altitude | 698 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −47.5°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 38.5°C |
| Next-nearest location | Lloydminster, 74 km |
How Wainwright 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 Wainwright’s would only repeat its figures. The nearest places to Wainwright with figures are 60–73 km away.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wainwright Fabyan | 23.5°C | −19.5°C | 425 mm |
| Provost No. 52 60 km · Coronation | 23.8°C about the same | −18.8°C 0.7°C milder | 339 mm |
| Vermilion River County 66 km · Lloydminster | 23.2°C about the same | −18.8°C 0.7°C milder | 424 mm |
| Provost 67 km · Esther | 25.9°C 2.4°C warmer | −17.9°C 1.6°C milder | 425 mm |
| Flagstaff County 68 km · Forestburg Plant Site | 24.4°C 0.9°C warmer | −15.4°C 4.1°C milder | 407 mm |
Wainwright weather by month
Each month’s normals, 1991–2020: high, low, mean, precipitation and snowfall.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain & snow | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −8.4°C | −19.5°C | −13.9°C | 20 mm | 19 cm |
| February | −5.7°C | −17.6°C | −11.7°C | 12 mm | 11 cm |
| March | 0.2°C | −11.6°C | −5.7°C | 16 mm | 15 cm |
| April | 9.8°C | −3.2°C | 3.3°C | 31 mm | 11 cm |
| May | 17.2°C | 3.2°C | 10.2°C | 47 mm | 2 cm |
| June | 20.8°C | 8.3°C | 14.6°C | 79 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 23.5°C | 10.4°C | 17.2°C | 77 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 23.0°C | 9.0°C | 16.0°C | 56 mm | under 1 cm |
| September | 17.7°C | 3.7°C | 10.7°C | 35 mm | 1 cm |
| October | 9.3°C | −3.1°C | 3.1°C | 18 mm | 7 cm |
| November | −1.0°C | −10.9°C | −6.0°C | 18 mm | 16 cm |
| December | −7.1°C | −17.2°C | −12.2°C | 17 mm | 17 cm |
| Year | 8.3°C | −4.1°C | 2.1°C | 425 mm | 99 cm |
February varies most from one year to the next (4.4°C), June least
Each bar spans a month’s coldest and warmest readings over thirty years; February’s run from −47.5°C in 1994 to 19.5°C in 2018.
Where Wainwright’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: ECCC’s 1991–2020 Canadian Climate Normals for Fabyan, the nearest location with a full year of temperatures.
- Comparisons: the towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ across Canada, each on its nearest normals location, without the city totals or the reserves.
- 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 Wainwright’s climate
How warm does Wainwright get in summer?
Of all twelve months, July has the warmest afternoons, about 23.5°C.
How cold does Wainwright get in winter?
Deep winter means January, when nights average −19.5°C.
How much rain and snow does Wainwright get?
Over twelve months, rain and melted snow come to 425 mm; the range runs from 12 mm in February to 79 mm in June.
Are these figures for Wainwright itself?
Not exactly. Wainwright lacks a normals station, so Fabyan supplies the figures.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Wainwright →
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).