Photo: Nuggets · CC BY 3.0Hardly any Canadian towns wake to more frost than Yellowhead County
The warmest part of a July day comes in at 22.2°C on average. July is the wettest month here, with about 6.2 times the rain and snow of February. Summers stay cool: July afternoons here are cooler than in 97% of Canadian towns. About 93 days a year bring 1 mm of precipitation or more.
The nearest ECCC normals location to Yellowhead County is Edson, 30 km west, and every figure on this page is its.
A year in Yellowhead County at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Yellowhead County’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Alberta beside it.
What a year in Yellowhead County feels like
Seasons and months as ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals give them: a typical day’s high and low.
About 218 frosts and 76 warm days a year
Frost comes from September to May; in January almost every night freezes. Some 32 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 489 mm of rain and snow a year
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
Snowfall: about 175 cm in a normal year
From September to May snow is likely; January is the peak, at about 35 cm. 7th snowiest of 474 towns of 2,500+ in Alberta.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
ECCC’s Edson normals leave snowfall out; the figures here come from Whitecourt, 60 km away.
Heating a home in Yellowhead County
84% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: September 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 84% of Canadian towns.
Living with Yellowhead County’s climate
Gardening, time outside, winter cold and summer heat, from the 1991–2020 normals.
Count on about 91 frost-free days: the last frost averages 4 June, the first 4 September.
Highs of 17–27°C with nights of 8°C or more come in Jul.
Parks & trails →Count on some 56 days a year when the wind makes it feel below −20.
About 5 days a year feel above 30 on the humidex.
Storms, floods and heat waves sit outside these normals; Yellowhead County’s hazards page covers them.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Edson
ECCC builds the Edson normals from 5 stations’ records over 1991–2020, joined where one replaced another.
| Distance from the town | 30 km west |
| Station altitude | 927 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Snowfall from | Whitecourt, 60 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −44.2°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 33.4°C |
| Average wind | 7.5 km/h on average, most often from the west |
| Next-nearest location | Whitecourt, 60 km |
How Yellowhead County 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
Nearby places read from a different ECCC location (places on Yellowhead County’s own would show the same figures). The nearest places to Yellowhead County with figures are 62–69 km away.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yellowhead County Edson | 22.2°C | −17.0°C | 489 mm |
| Whitecourt 62 km · Whitecourt | 22.2°C about the same | −16.0°C 1.0°C milder | 521 mm |
| Mayerthorpe 69 km · Campsie | 23.5°C 1.3°C warmer | −19.0°C 2.0°C colder | 466 mm |
Yellowhead County 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 | −4.2°C | −17.0°C | −10.6°C | 25 mm | 35 cm |
| February | −0.7°C | −14.9°C | −7.8°C | 15 mm | 20 cm |
| March | 3.4°C | −10.3°C | −3.5°C | 20 mm | 26 cm |
| April | 10.2°C | −3.5°C | 3.4°C | 26 mm | 17 cm |
| May | 16.1°C | 2.0°C | 9.0°C | 57 mm | 6 cm |
| June | 19.6°C | 6.4°C | 13.0°C | 79 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 22.2°C | 8.7°C | 15.5°C | 92 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 21.4°C | 7.4°C | 14.4°C | 67 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 16.6°C | 2.6°C | 9.6°C | 44 mm | 3 cm |
| October | 9.2°C | −3.3°C | 3.0°C | 27 mm | 19 cm |
| November | 0.7°C | −10.5°C | −4.9°C | 21 mm | 25 cm |
| December | −4.3°C | −16.2°C | −10.3°C | 18 mm | 25 cm |
| Year | 9.2°C | −4.1°C | 2.6°C | 489 mm | 175 cm |
March: −38.7°C at its coldest, 22.1°C at its warmest
From one year to the next, February’s average typically shifts by 4.2°C around its normal of −7.8°C, the widest of any month, while June’s shifts by 0.9°C.
Where Yellowhead County’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the closest ECCC location with twelve months of temperature normals, Edson, 1991–2020.
- Other locations: where a location publishes no full year of precipitation or snowfall, the nearest one that does supplies it, named beside those figures.
- Comparisons: every place of 2,500+ in Canada but the city hubs and the reserves, each on its nearest ECCC location.
- 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 Yellowhead County’s climate
How warm does Yellowhead County get in summer?
On a normal day in July the thermometer climbs to 22.2°C, the warmest of the year.
How cold does Yellowhead County get in winter?
Winter bottoms out in January, with lows near −17.0°C.
How much rain and snow does Yellowhead County get?
Rain and snow add up to about 489 mm of water a year; July brings the most (92 mm), February the least (15 mm).
Are these figures for Yellowhead County itself?
No, the station behind them is Edson, beyond Yellowhead County’s boundary.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Yellowhead County →
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).