Months Below Freezing

Today we are going to look at some winter trivia.

Environment Canada's temperature data for Edmonton goes back to July, 1880. That is 139 years, and about 1,660 months.

How many of those months recorded no days with a High temperature above freezing?

Any guesses?

It turns out that since 1880 Edmonton has recorded 14 months where the High temperature never reached above 0°C.

The most recent was December 2010, and before that February 1979.

Broken down by decade the numbers are:

• 1900s: 2
• 1910s: 1
• 1930s: 1
• 1950s: 4
• 1960s: 2
• 1970s: 3
• 2010s: 1
• 1880s, 1890s, 1920s, 1940s, 1980s, 1990s: none

Over the years there are a few instances where data is missing - a few whole months are gone in the 1880s, and also in 1993 for some reason. Any months with missing data are not included in this count. So potentially these numbers might be a tiny bit higher, but only by about 1 or 2 months at most.

Edmonton International

This chart adds the International Airport in as well, where the data only goes back to 1961.

Since 1961 the International has had 9 months without a High above freezing. Those have matched the freezing months at Blatchford, but also added the Decembers in 1995, 2009 & 2012.

Now let's check on some of our neighbours.


Calgary

Since the 1880s Calgary has only had 1 month with no Highs above freezing: January 1950. That month is also on Edmonton's list.


Regina

Regina is quite a bit busier, with 48 months since the 1880s.


Winnipeg

For Winnipeg there have been 119 months with no Highs above freezing. On this chart there isn't enough room to include labels for everything.


Montreal

And finally, Montreal has had 5 months without any Highs above freezing. The most recent one was February 2015, and the earliest was February 1901.


Comparisons

This chart cycles through the various cities.

In Edmonton, Calgary, and Montreal it is quite rare to have a month without a High above freezing. In Regina it happens on-average about every 3 years, and in Winnipeg it's almost yearly.

The most typical month without any Highs above freezing is January, which isn't a surprise. Although the range is 1 for Calgary, 2 for Montreal, 6 for Edmonton, 22 for Regina, and 57 for Winnipeg.

Of these cities Edmonton is the only one to have had a completely freezing November, back in 1973.

So that's it for the trivia.

The reason that we bring this up right now is that with about a week left in February 2019 it looks like there is a good chance that it will be added to this list for Edmonton (and also possibly for Calgary).