2023 Year-in-Review Part 1: Temperatures

And now, what you've all been waiting for!

It's time for our big look back at 2023 with our Year-in-Review Part 1: Temperatures.

And it was a warm one...


Warmest & Coldest Years

The big news: 2023 is Edmonton's warmest year on record at 3.3°C above the 20th century average.

That beats 2016 (2.9°C), 1987 (3°C) and 1981 (3°C).

May & Dec were the warmest on record, and Jan, Jun, Aug, Sep & Nov were all very warm.

And there was so much smoke.

2023's average High of 11.7°C was our warmest on record, just sneaking past 1889(!). 

The average Low of 1.3°C was our warmest, ahead of 1°C in 2016. 

And together that makes 2023 1st overall. In the red lines you can see the dips for the cool March and late-October.

In 2023 the only month which was colder than the 20th century average was March. 

Our other warmest years (like 2016, 2015, 1987, 1981) also didn't have many cool months. 

On the other hand, while 2021 had its heatdome summer, it also had a cool February & December.

For the climate stripes scarf chart 2023's 3.3°C is the reddest red so far.

The last time that we had a blue stripe was back in 1996, at -1.7°C colder than the 20th century average.

For the local outlying stations 2023's Highs ranked 1 for Stony Plain, 2 for the airport, and 3 for Campsie. The Lows were #2 for Stony Plain, #9 for the airport, and #6 for Campsie. 

The overall average temperature for those stations ranked 2nd or 3rd.



Temperatures Across Canada

Across the country 2023 was also Montréal's #1 warmest, and Calgary's #2. 

Saskatoon was #5, and Regina & Ottawa were top-10.

Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto & Halifax were top-15.

And St. John's rounds out the list as its 22nd warmest year.

Edmonton & Calgary had their warmest May & December on record, along with a warm January, June, July, August, September & November.

In Montréal it was a very warm January, July, September, October & December.

Here are the climate stripes for the country's big cities.

In 2022 we had a few whites and one blue (Winnipeg), but in 2023 everyone is pink or red.



Warm & Cold Months

2023's temperatures were sometimes split west/east across the country, with a cool March in the west, or cool October in the east. 

But January, September and December were above average across the country.



High Temperatures

For 2023 we had 258 days with Highs above our 30-year average. 

That included 6 warmest-records in May, June & August, and 22 others which were the warmest in 30 years.

We also set 2 new records for coldest-High, with -22.3°C on February 22nd, and 10.8°C on June 20th.

2023 had 303 days with Highs that reached 0°C. That's the 3rd most on record, behind 304 in 1912, and 305 in 1981. The average is around 280 days, and that has stayed pretty constant over the past century.

2023 had 121 days with Highs that reached 20°C, which is 2nd only to 122 in 1897 & 1898.

2023 had 55 days reach 25°C, which tied 2018 for 5th most on record. 1898 has the most with 64.

For 30°C days 2023 had 7, which was down from 11 in 2022, and from the record 17 in 2021. Two of those 30°C days were right at the beginning of May, with new daily records on the 3rd & 4th.

For 30°C days across the country no one was above average, and in fact Toronto, Ottawa & Montréal were all a little low.



Low Temperatures

For 2023 there were 258 days with above-average Lows. That included 15 new warmest-records, which is more than any other year.

The below-average days were mostly pretty brief, except for a bit of a blip in late-February and March, and then again near Halloween.

2023 ended up with 8 Lows of -20°C, which is the 2nd lowest on record. That was helped by the fact that we didn't have any cold days in November-December. 

2023 had 3 Lows reach -25°C, which makes it a bottom-5 year.

2023 had 0 days reach -30°C. The last time that happened was in 2016. 

Right now our last -30°C was December 22nd 2022. However, we've had much longed streaks without any -30°C days, in 1999-2002 and 1986-1988.

For -20°C Lows across the country 2023 was well below average for the prairie cities.



Yearly Extremes

With a warmest High of 32.2°C, and a coldest Low of -27.9°C the range of temperatures recorded in 2023 was 60.1°C.

The record for a calendar year is 80.5°C, set in 1936 and 1886 (our Lows used to get a lot colder).



Frost-Free Days

The final spring frost was pretty early on April 22nd, while the first fall frost on October 22nd was the 2nd latest ever, just missing 2022's record of October 23rd.

So 2023 ended up with 182 frost-free days. Our average is 142, and 1980 has the record at 184.

Across the country most cities' final spring frost was a bit early, except for Vancouver, Ottawa & Halifax. The first fall frosts were mostly late, except for Vancouver & Toronto. For the prairie cities 2023's frost-free period was a few weeks longer than average.



Edmonton versus Calgary

And finally, a quick comparison of Edmonton & Calgary. The temperatures track fairly closely to each other, except that sometimes a Chinook really hits Calgary. We saw that in January & November, with Calgary's Highs 10°C or more warmer than Edmonton.

That's the end of Part 1 of our 2023 Year-in-Review. Part 2 will look at precipitation, and part 3 will be all about snow. But before we go...



Will 2024 be even warmer?

I never make predictions, but it's probably unlikely that 2024 will be warmer than 2023.

2023 got most of its "points" from December, then January, May, November, etc. Without an El Niño super-charged winter, 2023 wouldn't have been #1.

2022 had our warmest August on record, at 4.7°C above the 20th century average.

But for 2023's record December it was 8.3°C. 

It's easier for us to be well above average in the winter, and so a warm winter has a bigger influence on the yearly average than a hot summer.

This may be hard to believe, but modern Januarys are always warm (or at least warmer than the 20th century average).

But November & December flipflop a lot.

For any year to beat 2023 it will need a warm November & December, and that might wait until the next El Niño.

Maybe 2024 will be a repeat of 2016? 

2016 was the 2nd year of a super El Niño, and through a lot of the year it was the warmest on record. But eventually the El Niño wound down, and a cool October & December pushed 2016 down to 4th.

And with that, we're taking a break until tomorrow and Part 2: Precipitation.