January 2025 Review

January 2025 is in the books, so it's time for our big look back at Edmonton's weather for the month.

January 2025 was a pretty warm one, following a relatively cold one in January 2024.

The average High of -2.2°C was the 20th warmest on record, in the same range as 2023, 2021, 2019 & 2014. The average Low of -10.3°C was the 8th warmest, just ahead of 2023 & 2021.

Our modern January temperatures have nothing in common with a century ago, or even with the 1970s.

Average Highs are up by 8°C and Lows are up by 10°C. Even a "cold" modern January like 2024 is well above the historic average. December & February haven't changed nearly as much.





High Temperatures

January had a lot of warm days near the top of our usual range, but it started cool, got cool briefly in the middle, and then again at the end. 

Overall 21 Highs were above freezing, with 2 as the warmest in 30 years. 10 were below average.

January averages 12 above-freezing Highs, and 2025 was up at 18. That's the most since 2001's 25, although 2022 & 2021 got to 17. 

We had 6 Highs get to 5°C, when the average is around 4. 

The coldest High was -19.3°C on the 19th, while January averages 2 -20°C Highs.



Low Temperatures

January had 10 below-average Lows, and 21 above-average. 

That included 2 record new record-warmest Lows on the 10th and the 27th.

January had 5 Lows below -20°C, when the average is around 8. 

It had 2 -25°C Lows when the average is around 4. The coldest was -27.6°C, while January 2024 got all the way down to -37.7°C. 

It also had 3 rare, above-freezing Lows, which ties 2015 & 2014.



Cold Days So Far

By the end of January we average around 15 -20°C Lows, and so far this winter we're at 6 (with more to come in February). 

And we've had 3 -25°C Lows compared to an average of around 8. 

And no -30°C Lows (yet).

Historically our -30°C season stretched into March. Recently we got to -30°C in March 2011, 2009 & 2003. But more typically they're late-December through early-February. 

Our -20°C season stretches well into mid-March, and in 2020 we even got one on April 2nd.



Warm & Cold Months

2025 gives us another orange/warm January. The average High of -2.2°C was -6.6°C warmer than the 20th century average. The average Low of -10.3°C was 7.9°C warmer. 

The last January with a High colder than the 20th century average was 2004. The last below-average Low was 1998.



Across Canada

January was well above-average in the west, and pretty warm everywhere else, except for Toronto, Moncton & Halifax. 

Dawson was at the top with a High 10.2°C above their 20th century average, followed by Edmonton's 6.6°C. 

For Lows, Edmonton's 7.9°C above average was the top.



Snow

In January we average 20cm of snowfall, and 10 days with snow. 

2025 was a little above average with 22.9cm over 12 days.

By this point of the winter we average 66cm of snowfall, and this winter we're really close with 64.1cm. 

Across the country Charlottetown is way up at 278cm, well above 2nd place Moncton's 145cm.

At the end of January we average around 20cm of snowdepth. 

 As usual, Elk Island is at the top with 42cm, while the rest are around 30cm. 

The long stretch of warm temperatures didn't drop the snowdepth very much, and then the late-January snowfalls pushed it back up.

We've still got plenty of snow season left, because we usually don't get down to zero snow until late March. Last winter in 2024 the snow didn't really start until January, and 2019 & 2018 saw big jumps later in the winter.

Across the country Charlottetown has recently jumped to the top with 76cm, while Dawson City has been consistent and is at 57cm.



January Rain

January rain always feels weird, but it's really not that unusual. 

January 2025 actually had 3 rainy days at the airport for a total of 3.4mm. January 2024 didn't have any rain, but 2022 had 2 days, 2021 had 2 days, and 2019 had 3.



February

Our February temperatures are often a lot like January, with 10~15 Highs above 0°C, and 5 Lows below -20°C. But recently February 2021 & 2019 both had huge deepfreezes. On average February is the least snowy main winter month, with about 14cm.

2024 Year-in-Review Part 3: Snow

And finally we have reached the end of our 2024 Year-in-Review Part 3: Snow! 

How was the snow for Edmonton and other Canadian cities last year? (Blatchford no longer records snowfall or snowdepth, so most of the numbers will be from the International Airport)



Monthly Snow

Here we have the snow for each month (including during the summer). 

And there isn't really anything exciting: February & November were just a bit above average, and the other months were just a bit below.



Total Snow

This chart has the cumulative snow for year (it looks a little strange because it includes the summer months). 

We average about 120cm of snow each year, and in 2024 the airport recorded 111cm. That's way up from 2023, which was the airport's lowest year on record, with only 36.8cm.



Snow Across Canada

For these cities across Canada St. John's was at the top with 314cm, which is around average for them. Charlottetown's 295cm was actually very low for them, when they average around 500cm. Calgary's 195cm was their 12th highest. Everywhere else was pretty unremarkable.



Last & First Snowfalls

In 2024 our final spring snowfall was May 1st, which is basically right on average. And the first fall snowfall was November 5th, which is a week or two late.

This is a comparison of the snow seasons, with Edmonton and Calgary usually starting in early October and lasting through May. Central and Eastern Canada start a month or so later in November, and usually end in April.



The Spring Melt

We didn't have much snow on the ground in early 2024, so the spring melt was also very early, getting down to 0cm by mid-March.

This one is pretty busy, but it shows the spring 2024 snow depths for other cities. And with the exception of Dawson City, all of the other cities were down to 0cm by the end of March.



Fall Snow

For fall snowdepth the locals stations got off to a bit of a late start, but things started to hang around in late-November. At the end of December our average snowdepth is around 15cm, and in 2024 the stations are all above that (despite a lot of melting during the warm end to December)

A busy chart again, but at the end of the year the western cities have had snow on the ground for a month or so, while in central Canada and the east it's just starting to show up.



Snowstorms

For snowstorms the biggest day was November 23rd with 12.8cm. And back at the start of the year we had two 8cm days in January & February.

Across the country the biggest single-day snowfalls were: 

• Charlottetown with 64cm & 34cm 
• St. John's with 53cm 
• Halifax with 39cm & 31cm.

And that finally brings us to the end of our long look back at the weather for 2024.

2024 Year-in-Review Part 2: Precipitation

Are you ready for our 2024 Year-in-Review Part 2: Precipitation! 

We will take a look at Edmonton, and some other cities across Canada.

Edmonton averages 435mm of combined precipitation (rain + snow) each year. 

2024 was a little low, with around 372mm at both the Airport and Blatchford, and 333mm at Stony Plain.

Of all of the stations in the Edmonton area Campsie was up around average with 454mm. But all of the other stations were below Blatchford and the airport.

Our low 2024 precipitation is mostly from the very dry July. July averages 90mm, and this year most stations (except Campsie) were only around 40mm. January, March, April & October were also a little below average.



Big Storms

2024 was a quiet year for storms: 30.7mm at Blatchford on June 3rd was the biggest.

That's not very big for us, and the Airport's largest day was only 17mm. But July is usually our big month for storms, and not much happened there this year.



Precipitation Across Canada

For cities across Canada the total precipitation ranged from Kelowna at 264mm, up to St. John's at 1,699mm

The outlier cities for 2024 are: 

• Toronto's 1,117mm is its most on record, ahead of 1,110mm in 1977 
• Vancouver's 1,362mm was only their 35th highest on record, but it was at the top of their typical range close to 2018 & 2016. To find a year well above that you have to go back to 1997's 1,522mm.

Big Storms Across Canada

These festive-looking charts show the biggest storms of the year. 

At the top, Montréal had 154mm on August 9th, and 79 on July 10th. 

Toronto had 128mm on August 17th and 98mm on July 16th. 

Quebec City got 89mm on August 9th, and Vancouver got 67mm on October 19th.

Montréal's 154mm blew away their previous daily record of 93.5mm from 1996.

And since 1880 Toronto has only had 5 days with more than 90mm, and 2 of those were in 2024.

That's the end of Part 2 of our 2024 Year-in-Review. In Part 3 we will take a look at snow.

2024 Year-in-Review Part 1: Temperatures

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

It's time for our big look back at 2024 with our Year-in-Review Part 1: Temperatures.



Warmest & Coldest Years

The big news: 2024 is Edmonton's 8th/9th warmest year on record (tied with 2001) at 2°C above the 20th century average. 

That's below 2023's record of 3.3°C, but above 2017-2022. 

July was our #1 warmest on record, September was #4, and August was #8.

2024's average High was 1.3°C above our 20th century average, and was our 19th warmest on record. The average Low was 2.7°C above average, and was our 5th warmest. And together that makes 2024 9th overall. 

In the red lines you can see the big dip for the January deepfreeze.

I don't get to use this chart very often, but here each pie piece is one month of the year. 

In 2024 the only month which was colder than the 20th century average was November (a very faint blue), although June, May & March were all close (basically grey).

For the climate stripes scarf chart 2024's 2°C is another red one, although obviously not as red as the record-breaking 2023. 

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 2024's temperatures ranked around top-15.



Temperatures Across Canada

Across the country 2024 was #1 warmest for Montréal, Ottawa & Charlottetown, #2 for Kelowna, Winnipeg & St. John's, top-5 for Toronto & Moncton, and top-10 for Calgary, Edmonton, Regina & Halifax. The bottom is Vancouver, with its 24th warmest year.

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

Back in 2022 we had a few whites and one blue (Winnipeg), but 2023 & 2024 have been all pink or red.

Montréal deserves a special look, because 2024 is their new warmest year on record. But they just set a new record in 2023, and before that in 2021. 

2024's 3.1°C is a standout though, well above 2023's 2.4°C and 2021's 2.3°C.

And here is Ottawa (#1) and you can click through for Charlottetown (#1), Kelowna & Winnipeg (#2), or any of the others.



Warm & Cold Months

Across the country 2024 didn't have many months that were cooler than the 20th century average. The prairies got a few in March, May, June & November. But the central and eastern part of the country were above average for the whole year.



High Temperatures

For 2024 Edmonton had 209 days with Highs above our 30-year average. 

That included 11 warmest-records in January, February, July & September. 

157 were below the 30-year average.

2024 had 97 days with Highs that reached 20°C. That's close to our longterm average, but it's fairly low for recent years. 

2024 had 45 days reach 25°C, which is down from 2021-2023, but our historic average is around 35.

2024 had 16 days reach 30°C, which is the 2nd most on record, behind 2021 with 17. Summer was slow to get started, and in May & June we only got above 25°C 3 times. But then July and September heatwaves set a string of new records.

The July heatwaves weren't as headline-grabbing as the 2021 heatdome, but a ridiculous number of notable things happened.

• https://edmontonweathernerdery.blogspot.com/2024/07/the-great-heatwaves-of-july-2024.html 

For 30°C days across the country Edmonton & Kelowna were very high, while the other cities ranged from top-20 to average.

Edmonton's 16 30°C days was more than Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto or Ottawa, which doesn't happen very often.



Low Temperatures

For 2024 there were 241 days with above-average Lows, and included 14 new warmest-records.

The 125 below-average Lows were mostly a January deepfreeze, cool start to March, cool mid-June, and a cold end to November.

2024 ended up with 20 Lows of -20°C, when our average is around 25. Only one of those happened at the end of the year. The rest came at that beginning of March, and during the 11-day deepfreeze in January.

2024 had 5 days reach -30°C, from January 11-15. Those 5 days were actually all below -34°C, and January 12-14 were below -36°C, which is very unusual.

The January 2024 deepfreeze was extremely deep, and it did some things that we hadn't seen since the 1970s, 1960s, and even the 1950s. 

• https://edmontonweathernerdery.blogspot.com/2024/02/january-2024-review.html 

For -20°C Lows across the country 2024 was below average for the big winter cities.



Yearly Extremes

With a warmest High of 36.2°C on July 10th, and a coldest Low of -37.7°C on January 13th Edmonton's temperature range in 2024 was 73.9°C. That was the largest range since 1950.

The record is 80.5°C, set in 1936 and 1886 (our Lows used to get even colder).



Records

2024 set 11 new record Highs. The only year with more is 1889, with 14. 

And it set 14 new record warmest-Lows. The only year with more is 2023, with 15. 

In the 4 years since 2021 we've set 51 new record warmest-Lows, which is 14% of the year.



Frost-Free Days

The final spring frost was pretty early on April 20th, while the first fall frost was pretty late on October 12nd. So 2024 ended up with 174 frost-free days.

Our average is 142, 1980 has the record at 184, and 2023 was up at 182.

This chart is very cramped, but it gives a sense of how the growing season varies across the country. In 2024 Toronto, Montréal & Winnipeg had a frost-free season that was a week or two shorter than their averages, while everywhere else was average or longer.



Edmonton versus Calgary

And finally, a quick comparison of Edmonton & Calgary. 

As usual the temperatures track fairly closely. But sometimes a Chinook really hits Calgary: the biggest gap this year was February 29th's High of -12°C in Edmonton, and +10°C in Calgary.

That's the end of Part 1 of our 2024 Year-in-Review. Part 2 will look at precipitation, and part 3 will be all about snow.