Edmonton Snowfall Totals & Accumulation Averages
This page pulls together information on when, how much and how often Edmonton, Alberta has snow.
There are data and descriptions here of how many days it snows and the total amount of snowfall that Edmonton usually gets. There are also monthly and yearly counts of the days that Edmonton 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 at Edmonton International Airport. All the other numbers are long-term historical averages based on weather data gathered from 1981 to 2010 at the Edmonton City Centre Airport.
How Often it Snows in Edmonton
| Inches | Centimetres | |
|---|---|---|
| January | 7.8 | 20 |
| February | 5.4 | 14 |
| March | 7.9 | 20 |
| April | 5.7 | 14 |
| May | 2.0 | 5 |
| September | 2.3 | 6 |
| October | 2.4 | 6 |
| November | 8.3 | 21 |
| December | 6.9 | 18 |
| Year | 48.8 | 124 |
| Days | Inches | Centimetres | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10.7 | January | 9.7 | 25 |
| 7.7 | February | 5.3 | 13 |
| 7.7 | March | 6.8 | 17 |
| 4.2 | April | 6.0 | 15 |
| 1.2 | May | 1.9 | 5 |
| 0.5 | September | 0.4 | 1 |
| 3.2 | October | 4.6 | 12 |
| 7.9 | November | 7.5 | 19 |
| 9.3 | December | 6.4 | 16 |
| 52.4 | Year | 48.6 | 124 |
When Edmonton Has Its First & Last Snowfalls
The first snowfall of winter for Edmonton usually arrives in October, but can show up as early as September or even August.
The season's last snowfall typically happens in April or May although in some years a late snow lands in June.
Only in July is Edmonton is normally free of snow every year.
How Many Snowstorms Edmonton Gets
Most days of snowfall in Edmonton 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 don't happen every year. Storms this severe are most likely to appear in April.
| 5 cm 2.0 inches |
10 cm 3.9 inches |
25 cm 9.8 inches | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1.5 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| February | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| March | 1.1 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| April | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.1 |
| May | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| September | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| October | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| November | 1.1 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| December | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Year | 7.0 | 1.7 | 0.2 |
How Much Snow Normally Accumulates in Edmonton
For about 133 days, or one-third of the year, Edmonton has at least a centimetre of snow on the ground. In mid-winter the snowpack averages 18 cm deep.
| 1 cm 0.4 inches |
5 cm 2.0 inches |
10 cm 3.9 inches |
20 cm 7.9 inches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30.9 | 26.2 | January | 18.8 | 9.9 |
| 27.9 | 24.3 | February | 16.8 | 9.7 |
| 22.5 | 16.9 | March | 12.6 | 7.1 |
| 4.1 | 2.1 | April | 1.0 | 0.5 |
| 0.4 | 0.2 | May | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| 0.1 | 0.0 | September | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 3.6 | 2.1 | October | 1.5 | 0.0 |
| 18.0 | 11.3 | November | 5.7 | 1.5 |
| 25.3 | 19.9 | December | 12.8 | 5.2 |
| 132.7 | 102.9 | Year | 69.2 | 33.9 |
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.