Current Weather Conditions
Climate in the Canadian Rockies
When planning a trip to the Canadian Rockies, be sure to account for the wide range of weather
that can potentially greet you. It is no coincidence that visitor activities in the Canadian Rockies
are as varied as the region's climate. A year in the Canadian Rockies would give a visitor a taste of
everything in terms of weather and recreation. The summer sees sunny, warm days for such things as hiking,
biking, golfing, camping, and climbing. The winter brings crisp, snowy days for tracking, skating, and alpine
and nordic skiing.
While the weather is extremely variable, it is possible to make some generalizations about the weather in the
Canadian Rockies. July is the warmest, with average highs of 22°C (71F). January is the coldest month with average lows of -15°C (5F)
, though the mercury can easily drop into the minus thirties.
The relative dryness of the air in the Rockies, however, makes even extreme temper
atures more bearable. The presence of
Chinooks also makes winter more pleasant as they sweep in spring-like conditions several times over the course of a normal winter.
It is not uncommon for the temperature to change more than 30° in a matter of hours.
In winter, visitors must be especially careful of wind chill. A temperature of -20° on the thermometer may
feel like -30° with the wind chill. Regardless of the season, the temperature will fall about 1° for every 200m of elevation gain.
The length of the day in the Rockies varies greatly throughout the year. Daylight can last as little as eight hours in December.
At the end of June, the sun rises at 5:30 am and sets at 10:00 pm.
Average Seasonal Weather
| High (°C/F) |
Low (°C/F) |
Rainfall (mm) |
Snowfall (cm) |
Hours of Sun per day | |
| Jan | -3.2 / 26.2 | -11.8 / 10.8 | 4.3 | 33.0 | 8.1 |
| Feb | 1.5 / 34.7 | -8.4 / 16.9 | 4.3 | 22.0 | 10.0 |
| Mar | 7.1 / 44.8 | -3.8 / 25.2 | 8.9 | 13.8 | 12.0 |
| Apr | 12.8 / 55.0 | 0.2 / 32.4 | 21.7 | 5.8 | 14.0 |
| May | 17.7 / 63.9 | 4.6 / 40.3 | 42.6 | 0.7 | 15.5 |
| Jun | 21.6 / 70.9 | 8.2 / 46.8 | 52.7 | 0.0 | 16.5 |
| Jul | 25.6 / 78.1 | 10.9 / 51.6 | 38.2 | 0.0 | 16.0 |
| Aug | 25.4 / 77.7 | 10.2 / 50.4 | 31.6 | 0.0 | 14.5 |
| Sep | 19.6 / 67.3 | 5.1 / 41.2 | 27.3 | 1.4 | 12.7 |
| Oct | 11.7 / 53.1 | -0.3 / 31.5 | 15.8 | 3.2 | 10.7 |
| Nov | 2.3 / 36.1 | -5.5 / 22.1 | 16.7 | 24.0 | 9.0 |
| Dec | -3.1 / 26.4 | -10.8 / 12.6 | 6.7 | 36.0 | 7.8 |