Calgary Snowfall Totals & Accumulation Averages
This page pulls together information on when, how much and how often Calgary, Alberta has snow.
There are data and descriptions here of how many days it snows and the total amount of snowfall that Calgary usually gets. There are also monthly and yearly counts of the days that Calgary normally has heavy snowstorms and deep snow accumulated on the ground. Plus there's information on when the city can expect its first and last snowfalls of the season.
The first set of monthly snow totals are averages for 2010 to 2019. All the other numbers are long-term historical averages based on weather data gathered from 1981 to 2010 at the Calgary International Airport.
How Often it Snows in Calgary
| Inches | Centimetres | |
|---|---|---|
| January | 7.0 | 18 |
| February | 8.0 | 20 |
| March | 6.8 | 17 |
| April | 8.7 | 22 |
| May | 2.6 | 6 |
| June | 0.0 | 0 |
| August | 0.0 | 0 |
| September | 1.3 | 3 |
| October | 3.8 | 10 |
| November | 9.7 | 25 |
| December | 9.1 | 23 |
| Year | 56.9 | 144 |
| Days | Inches | Centimetres | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7.7 | January | 6.0 | 15 |
| 7.4 | February | 5.7 | 15 |
| 9.5 | March | 8.9 | 23 |
| 6.4 | April | 7.4 | 19 |
| 2.6 | May | 4.7 | 12 |
| 0.1 | June | 0.1 | 0 |
| 0.1 | August | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1.3 | September | 1.5 | 4 |
| 4.1 | October | 3.9 | 10 |
| 7.4 | November | 6.5 | 17 |
| 7.7 | December | 5.9 | 15 |
| 54.2 | Year | 50.7 | 129 |
When Calgary Has Its First & Last Snowfalls
The first snowfall of autumn for Calgary usually arrives in September or October. The season's last snowfall typically happens in April or May. But in some years there is no start or stop to the snow season as it can snow any month of the year in Calgary.
How Many Snowstorms Calgary Gets
Most days of snowfall in Calgary leave less than five centimetres (2 inches) of fresh snow on the ground. For seven days a year on average, the amount of new snow totals at least five cm.
Big snowstorms of over ten cm a day normally occur once or twice a year. But major blizzards that dump 25 cm or more in one day are rare events that happen about once a decade. Storms this severe are most likely to appear in May.
| 5 cm 2.0 inches |
10 cm 3.9 inches |
25 cm 9.8 inches | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| February | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| March | 1.5 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| April | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| May | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
| September | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| October | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| November | 1.1 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| December | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| Year | 6.9 | 1.7 | 0.1 |
How Much Snow Normally Accumulates in Calgary
For about 86 days, or one-quarter of the year, Calgary has at least a centimetre of snow on the ground. In mid-winter the snowpack averages around three cm deep.
| 1 cm 0.4 inches |
5 cm 2.0 inches |
10 cm 3.9 inches |
20 cm 7.9 inches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18.9 | 8.6 | January | 4.3 | 1.0 |
| 16.3 | 7.4 | February | 2.5 | 0.0 |
| 12.6 | 7.0 | March | 2.1 | 0.3 |
| 4.4 | 2.0 | April | 0.8 | 0.1 |
| 1.4 | 0.8 | May | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| 0.3 | 0.0 | September | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 3.1 | 1.4 | October | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| 11.6 | 5.6 | November | 1.6 | 0.2 |
| 17.0 | 8.0 | December | 4.6 | 0.9 |
| 85.6 | 40.9 | Year | 16.3 | 2.6 |
References
Environment Canada. Meteorological Service of Canada. Canadian Climate Normals. 1981-2010 Climate Normals & Averages.
Jay Lawrimore, Ron Ray, Scott Applequist, Bryant Korzeniewski, Matthew Menne. 2016. Global Summary of the Month and Year, Version 1.0. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.