Photo: Koppertone · CC BY-SA 3.0Whitecourt has some of the coolest summers among Canadian towns
Nights in January average −16.0°C. About 197 nights a year bring a frost, more than in 89% of Canadian towns. Rain or snow is most frequent in July and least in February. Expect about 197 frosty starts a year, days when the air falls to freezing.
Figures: ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals for Whitecourt (7.5 km west).
A year in Whitecourt at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Whitecourt’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in Whitecourt feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals.
197 frost days and 74 days above 20°C a year
From September to May frost is routine, and in December it comes on almost 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
6th wettest of 478 towns of 2,500+ in Alberta. About 92 days a year bring 1 mm or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Rain alone by month
Millimetres
About 175 cm of snow a year
Expect snow from September to May, with about 35 cm in January, the snowiest month. 7th snowiest of 474 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 Whitecourt
86% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to May.
Every day colder than 18°C on average adds its gap in degrees to the year’s heating total. By this count, homes here need more heating than 83% of Canadian towns.
Living with Whitecourt’s climate
The averages read for the garden, the outdoors and the coldest and hottest days.
Wait until about 20 May to plant out; frost tends to come back around 15 September, about 118 days later.
Highs of 17–27°C with nights of 8°C or more come in Jul and Aug.
Parks & trails →Bad-weather days, from blizzards to floods, get their own page for Whitecourt: the hazards page.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Whitecourt
Behind the 1991–2020 normals for Whitecourt are 3 stations, which ECCC combines into one record.
| Distance from the town | 7.5 km west |
| 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 | Campsie, 65 km |
How Whitecourt compares
Against the 2,611 Canadian towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, each read from its own normals location; the dots are the other locations those towns use in Alberta.
Nearby towns’ climate
The nearest places on a normals location of their own: those that share Whitecourt’s would only repeat its figures. No closer places have figures: these lie 41–79 km from Whitecourt.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whitecourt | 22.2°C | −16.0°C | 521 mm |
| Mayerthorpe 41 km · Campsie | 23.5°C 1.3°C warmer | −19.0°C 3.0°C colder | 466 mm |
| Yellowhead County 62 km · Edson | 22.2°C about the same | −17.0°C 1.0°C colder | 489 mm |
Whitecourt 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 |
February strays furthest from its normal year to year, by 4.3°C; June the least
January has the widest record range, −42.7°C in 2008 to 16.9°C in 2003; the tick on each bar is the month’s normal.
Where Whitecourt’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: Environment and Climate Change Canada’s 1991–2020 normals, Whitecourt: the nearest of its locations with every month’s temperatures.
- Comparisons: every Canadian town and neighbourhood of 2,500 or more, each read from its own nearest location; city totals and reserves are left out.
- 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 Whitecourt’s climate
How warm does Whitecourt get in summer?
Highs reach 22.2°C on an average July day; no month is warmer.
How cold does Whitecourt get in winter?
Deep winter means January, when nights average −16.0°C.
How much rain and snow does Whitecourt get?
About 521 mm a year, rain and melted snow together. July is the wettest month (104 mm) and February the driest (15 mm).
Are these figures for Whitecourt itself?
They are the normals for Whitecourt, measured just outside Whitecourt itself.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Whitecourt →
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).