2017-2018 Winter in Review: Winter City Showdown

As winter very, very, very slowly takes its leave, today we're going to see how the winter of 2017-2018 compared in Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg and Montreal.

Last year we did a series looking at how Edmonton's average temperatures and precipitation throughout the year compare to some of Canada's other winter cities:

• Calgary: Part 1
• Calgary: Part 2; This Time It's Precipitation
• Winnipeg
• Montreal

Those give a general idea of the differences for the cities throughout the year. But today we'll be digging into the specifics of the winter of 2017-2018 on a day-to-day basis.

Before we jump in, first lets take a quick look back at how Edmonton's winter went:

Edmonton's 2017-2018 Winter: Low Temperatures

Even though winter has decided to hang around for a few weeks into April, to keep things simple for today we're going to use November 2017 through March 2018 as the boundaries of "Winter."

And for Edmonton those 5 months went something like this:

• really cold start to November - right at the bottom of our typical temperature range.
• really warm December - right at the top of the range.
• really cold deepfreeze from Christmas to New Year's - bottom of range again.
• January bounced between warm and cold.
• February was down at the bottom of the range again.
• March was pretty average...until it ended with a surprise deepfreeze.

So that was a quick reminder of Edmonton's winter of 2017-2018, and if you are interested in more details they are all here:

• 2017-2018 Winter in Review - Temperatures
• 2017-2018 Winter in Review - Snow (so far)
• 2017-2018 Winter in Review - The Really Cold Days

Now we're going to see how last winter in Edmonton compared to other locations. There will be a lot of charts today as we work our way through each of the cities, and we're going to start with something close to home:

Edmonton International High Temperatures

The rest of the charts today are going to follow a similar format, and starting with the High temperatures for the International Airport is a good example of how this will work:

• These charts will all start by showing the daily temperatures for Edmonton and for the other location. A counter shows how many of the days Edmonton was warmer, and how many days the other location was.
• Then the chart will switch to areas, to give a better visual sense of the gaps between the two sets of temperatures.
• A dotted line for the 7-Day Average Difference will appear, to show roughly how much warmer or colder the week was. If that dotted line is above 0°C then that means that Edmonton was warmer that week, but if it's below then Edmonton was colder.
• And finally, the 10 largest gaps will be highlighted with the date that they occurred, and with the temperatures at the two locations.

That sounds like a lot of rules to remember, but this post is already going to be really long. By stuffing all of that information into a single chart we'll hopefully be able to get through this before the winter of 2018-2019 starts.


So with all of that said, what can we learn from the High temperatures for the International Airport?

• Not surprisingly, the temperatures for Edmonton and the Airport track really closely to one another. When one warms up or cools down, the other does too.
• Edmonton's Highs were warmer than the Airport's for 120 of the 151 days. The airport was warmer for 25 days, and there were 6 days where the two locations were tied.
• On average the Highs in Edmonton were 1°C to 3°C warmer than the Airport for most of the winter.
• For the Top-10 largest gaps, 9 of them had Edmonton warmer than the Airport. The largest difference was 6.3°C on February 5th, with Edmonton at -10.1°C and the International at -16.4°C. The rest of the Top-10 are all 4°C to 5°C difference. The one time that the Airport was much warmer than Edmonton was January 9th with Edmonton at -9.6°C, while the Airport was 5.9°C warmer at -3.7°C.

We did a similar comparison for Edmonton and the International last year for the winter of 2016-2017, and if you're interested in those results they are at the bottom of versus - The Edmonton International Airport: Part 2.

Edmonton International Low Temperatures

Here we have the Low temperatures for Edmonton and for the International Airport.

• Edmonton's Lows were warmer than the Airport's for 136 of the 151 days, and the Airport was warmer than the city only 15 times.
• On average the Lows in Edmonton were 2°C to 4°C warmer than the Airport, but that rose up to an average of 7°C during a deepfreeze in early-February, and then again in mid-March.
• For the Top-10 largest gaps, all 10 of them had Edmonton warmer than the Airport.
• The largest difference was 13.3°C on February 8th with Edmonton at -18.8°C and the Airport way down at -32.1°C. Another notable day was February 4th with Edmonton at -30.7°C and the Airport way down at -39.3°C.
• The other largest gaps were all in the range of 8°C to 10°C and happened during the February deepfeeze, and then again later in March.

Calgary High Temperatures

Here we are comparing the High temperatures for Edmonton-Blatchford against the Calgary International Airport.

Anytime we do comparisons with Calgary I need to mention the caveat that Environment Canada doesn't have a central weather station for Calgary. And so these temperatures are likely a  bit colder than if they were recorded nearer downtown. We looked at the differences for outlying and airport stations last year in The Edmonton International Airport: Part 2, and saw that the Edmonton International is really, abnormally cold. So while this isn't perfect, Blatchford is probably the better comparison for the Calgary International than the Edmonton International would be.

With that out of the way, what do we have here?

• Calgary likes to think of itself as warmer than Edmonton, and...yeah. Its High temperatures were warmer for 2/3 of the winter, with Edmonton picking up the other 1/3.
• Even with Calgary being consistently warmer, we can see that the two cities track very closely to one another. Calgary's December heatwave was several degrees warmer than Edmonton's, but Edmonton was still pretty warm. The most dramatic divergence was right at the end of January when Calgary's Highs shot up above freezing while Edmonton stayed down around -8°C, but that was only for 2 days.
• On average throughout the winter Calgary's Highs were 0°C to 5°C warmer than Edmonton, although there was a week at the beginning of March where Edmonton averaged about 3°C warmer.
• For the Top-10, Calgary was warmer for all of them. The largest difference was November 26 with Calgary way up at 14.6°C, and Edmonton 16.3°C colder at -1.7°C. The rest of the Top-10 were all also differences of 10°C to 15°C.
• Edmonton's warmest day compared to Calgary was February 19th with Edmonton at -7°C and Calgary 5.9°C colder down at -12.9°C.

We did a similar look at Calgary last year, and you can read the results in 2016-2017 Winter in Review - versus Calgary. Calgarians would say that the winter of 2017-2018 has been unusually cold and unfair to them, but last year in 2016-2017 Calgary was warm for 96 days compared to Edmonton's 49, which is pretty similar to the 100/49 split that we saw this winter.


Calgary Low Temperatures

Here we have the Low temperatures for the Calgary International Airport compared to Edmonton-Blatchford.

• When we looked at the High temperatures we saw that Calgary was consistently warmer than Edmonton. For the Lows the cities are much closer, with Calgary at 80 days and Edmonton at 71. 
• The average difference fluctuates from Edmonton being 4°C warmer to Calgary being 5°C warmer.
• The Top-10 largest differences are split between the cities. The very largest was 12°C on February 13th with Calgary up at a Low of 1.9°C while Edmonton was at -10.9°C. Edmonton was warmer for the 3rd largest difference, which was 9.4°C on December 11th, with Edmonton at -2.2°C and Calgary at -11.6°C.

Last year we did this comparison as well, and for the winter of 2016-2017 Calgary was warmer for 79 days compared to Edmonton's 76. That's again pretty close to the 80/71 split this year.


Winnipeg High Temperatures

And now we're moving on to Winnipeg. Environment Canada has two main weather stations for Winnipeg - the Airport and the Forks - and we'll be using the temperatures for the Forks. And again, the difference between those two stations was something that we looked at last year, if you're interested in how they compare.

So how does did Winnipeg's winter compare to Edmonton's:

• In the charts for the Edmonton International and for Calgary, we saw that their temperatures were pretty closely tied to Edmonton's. That's not as quite as true for Winnipeg:
• Edmonton's November was really cold, but Winnipeg's was pretty normal.
• Edmonton December was really warm, but Winnipeg's was pretty normal.
• Both cities (and Calgary too) had a deepfreeze right around Christmas.
• Both cities (and Calgary too) had January warmspells, with Winnipeg following a few days behind Alberta.
• And after that things tracked pretty closely.
• Edmonton's Highs were warmer for 92 of these days, compared to 58 for Winnipeg.
• The average difference fluctuated throughout the winter. Winnipeg was 5°C warmer through November, and then briefly in March. In parts of December & January Edmonton averaged 10°C to 15°C warmer.
• For the Top-10 gaps, Edmonton was warmer for 9 of them, and Winnipeg was warmer for 1. The largest gap was January 3rd with Edmonton at 3.4°C, and Winnipeg 24°C colder down at -20.6°C. The second largest gap is a two-way tie, with Edmonton being 23.1°C warmer than Winnipeg on January 4th, and then Winnipeg being 23.1°C warmer than Edmonton on January 10th. For the rest of the Top 10 Edmonton was 15°C to 20°C warmer than Winnipeg.
• The biggest gaps here aren't really as meaningful as they were for the Airport or Calgary, since the temperatures for Edmonton and Winnipeg don't follow each other as closely. But they're still interesting trivia. 

Winnipeg Low Temperatures

Here we have the Low temperatures for Edmonton-Blatchford and the Forks in Winnipeg:

• For the Lows Edmonton was warmer for 87 days, and Winnipeg the other 64.
• The average difference for the Lows was pretty similar to what we just saw for the Highs: Winnipeg was 5°C warmer through November, and then briefly in March. In parts of December & January Edmonton averaged 10°C to 15°C warmer.
• The Top-10 largest gaps were split, with Edmonton warmer for 7 and Winnipeg warmer for 3. The largest was 19.6°C on January 4th when Edmonton's Low was -7°C and Winnipeg's was -26.6°C. The 2nd largest had Winnipeg on top, when its March 5th Low of -3.1°C was 18.7°C warmer than Edmonton's at -21.8°C.

Montreal High Temperatures

Moving on to Montreal, here are its High temperatures compared to Edmonton's:

• Here we can see that the two cities temperatures have almost nothing in common - when Edmonton is cold Montreal is warm, and when Montreal is cold Edmonton is warm. Both cities shared the Christmas deepfreeze, but that's about it.
• Montreal's Highs were warmer for 97 days, compared to Edmonton's 54.
• The average, weekly difference is all over the place - Montreal averaged 20°C warmer for part of November, and Edmonton was 15°C warmer for part of December. For a lot of the winter though, Montreal averaged 5°C to 10°C warmer than Edmonton.
• Of the Top-10 gaps Montreal was warmer for 9 days, and Edmonton was for 1. The largest was January 12 with Montreal at 10°C and Edmonton 30°C colder at -20°C. Edmonton's biggest win was just a week before that on January 6th, when it's High of 5.2°C was 25.4°C warmer than Montreal's -20.2°C.

Montreal Low Temperatures

And here we have the Lows for Montreal:

• As we saw with the Highs, there isn't much in common here.
• In Montreal the Lows were warmer for 102 days, compared to 48 in Edmonton.
• Looking at the weekly average, Montreal's Lows were 5°C warmer than Edmonton's for a lot of the winter. But there were a few times when that opened up to 10°C or 15°C. And Edmonton had 3 warmspells where it was 10°C to 15°C warmer than Montreal.
• For the Top-10 gaps Montreal was warmer for 8, with Edmonton at 2. The largest was January 11th, with Montreal's Low at -2.4°C, and Edmonton 25.4°C colder and way down at -27.8°C. And just like we saw with the Highs, Edmonton's biggest win was about a week earlier on January 7th with a Low of -4.6°C compared to Montreal's -24.9°C.

We're going to do one final comparison, for interest's sake:

Calgary versus Montreal High Temperatures

Here we have the High temperatures for Calgary and Montreal:

• When we compared these cities to Edmonton, Calgary was warmer for 100 days and Montreal was warmer for 97. When we compared them to each other they are basically tied, with Calgary at 76, Montreal at 74.
• The weekly average is all over the place again, because the temperatures for Calgary and Montreal don't really track together. Calgary is mostly warmer than Montreal during a couple of warmspells, and then for the rest of the winter Montreal was 5°C to 10°C warmer than Calgary.
• For the Top-10 gaps Montreal was warmer 7 times, compared to Calgary's 3. The largest was January 11th with Montreal at 7°C and Calgary at -23.3°C. Calgary's biggest win was January 6th with a High of 9.2°C compared to Montreal's -20.2°C. (and these were very similar to the largest gaps for Edmonton-Montreal that we just looked at)

Calgary versus Montreal Low Temperatures

And for our final comparison, here we have the Low temperatures for Calgary and Montreal:

• When we compared the Lows for Calgary and Edmonton they were pretty close, with Calgary warmer for 80 days compared to Edmonton's 71. When we compared Montreal to Edmonton it was 102 days for Montreal, compared to 48 for Edmonton. And now our Montreal-Calgary comparison has a lot in common with our Montreal-Edmonton, because Montreal's Lows were warmer for 103 days compared to Calgary's 47.
• Looking at the weekly averages Calgary was warmer - sometimes 15°C warmer - in December and January. But for most of the rest of the winter Montreal was 5°C to 10°C warmer.
• For the Top-10 gaps Montreal was warmer for 8 compared to Calgary's 2. The largest was January 11th (same as Edmonton's), with Montreal's Low at -2.4°C, and Calgary 25.2°C colder and way down at -27.6°C. And Calgary's biggest win was a week earlier on January 6th with a Low of -1.5°C compared to Montreal's -24.7°C.

So that was a bit a of a marathon, but hopefully now we have a better sense of how the winters in these cities compared.

• Edmonton and Calgary have quite a bit in common - although Calgary definitely has higher Highs.
• Edmonton and Winnipeg temperatures were fairly similar in the last half of the winter, but moved in opposite directions during the first half.
• And temperatures in Edmonton and Montreal don't have much in common at all, with Montreal warm while Edmonton was cold, and visa versa. Montreal averaged about 5°C warmer than Edmonton for most of the winter, and that matches the long-term trends we saw last year.

(Winnipeg fans might be wondering why there are no Winnipeg v. Calgary and Winnipeg v. Montreal charts? Sadly we're going to leave those to the imagination, because things are already running really long.)


High Temperature Totals

Bringing it all together, here are how the High temperatures for the winter were distributed for the 4 cities.

• Calgary is the big winner for days of 5°C or more, with 45. That beats Montreal's 35, Edmonton's 21, and Winnipeg's 6.
• Montreal wins for days above freezing though, with 88 compared to 80 for Calgary, 57 for Edmonton and 36 for Winnipeg.
• For Highs of -20°C or colder Montreal had 2, Calgary 5, Edmonton 6 and Winnipeg 11.

Low Temperature Totals

And here we have the Lows:

• Montreal is quite a bit different than the prairie cities, with 62 relatively mild Lows of -5°C or warmer. Calgary had less than half that at 26, Edmonton had 23, and Winnipeg had 19.
• At the other end of things Winnipeg takes the lead with 42 Lows of -20°C or colder, compared to 31 for Edmonton, 28 for Calgary, and 18 for Montreal.
• At the very furthest end, this winter the two Alberta cities both recorded 3 Lows of -30°C or colder. Winnipeg only had 1, and Montreal had none.

When we group things together like that we see that most of the interesting stuff happens at the extremes - the Highs and Lows above freezing or down below -20°C. In the middle of that range the cities have a lot in common.

And with that we're going to call it a day. Next week we'll be back with the Winter City Showdown - Part 2.

In Part 2 we'll take a look at what is possibly the most important Winter City metric: snow. We'll also see how the winter of 2017-2018 compared to historic winters. For Edmonton we know that this winter was a little warmer than the historical average, but colder than the recent average. So how did it compare for Calgary, Winnipeg and Montreal? (spoilers: yes Calgary, for you folks this winter actually was a little cold)