2025/01/03

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.

2025/01/02

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.

2025/01/01

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.

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. 

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.

December 2024 Review

Somehow we've reached the end of the year, so it's time for our look back at Edmonton weather for December 2024. This will be a bit shorter than usual, because we've also got the giant-sized 2024 Year-in-Review coming up. 

But for now, December...

December 2024's average High of -3°C was a bit above average, and the 50th warmest on record. 

The average Low of -10.8°C was also a bit above average and was the 34th warmest. 

December 2023 was our warmest on record, with an average High of 2.8°C, and average Low of -6.7°C.



High Temperatures
The cold end of November carried over to December 1st, but after that things were fairly mild, except for a bit of a coldsnap around the middle of the month. 

Overall we had 19 above average Highs, and 12 below average.

On average December has 10 above-freezing Highs, and 2024 had 14. December averages 3 5°C Highs, and 2024 had 4. 

The coldest High was -16.9°C on the 17th & 18th. 

In 2023 our coldest December High was only -5.4°C, while 2022 & 2021 had Highs down to -29.6°C and -27.6°C.



Low Temperatures
December 2024's coldest Low was the morning of December 1st, at -25°C. That was the only -20°C of the month, although we got really close again on the 18th & 19th. 

Overall 22 Lows were above average and 9 were below.

December averages 2 Lows of -25°C and 3 of -20°C. 2024 just had 1, with December 1st's -25°C.



Cold Days so Far
By the end of December we average around 8 Lows of -20°C, and so far we've just had 1. 

That ties 2020 & 2018, although 2023 & 2019 both waited until the new year to get that cold. On the other hand, 2022 & 2021 had 15 & 14 of them by this point.



Warm & Cold Months
December's average High of -3°C was 2.8°C warmer than the 20th century average, so it's a medium orange bubble here. The average Low of -10.8°C was 3.9°C warmer, so it's also a medium orange bubble.



Across Canada
December 2024's Highs were warmer than the 20th century average across Canada. That ranged from Dawson City at 7.6°C above their average, to Toronto at 1.2 °C above theirs.



Precipitation
In December Edmonton averages 15mm of precipitation (rain+snow). 

2024 was a little above average with 28mm at Blatchford, 20mm at the airport, and 19mm at Stony Plain.

At the end of the year we average 438mm for the year. 

2024 was a little low with 373mm at Blatchford, 372mm at the airport, and all of the other local stations below that. That's mostly because of an extremely dry July and October.

For total precipitation for the year St. John's is well in the lead with 1,699mm - that's high for them, but not extreme. Toronto's 1,145mm is their wettest year on record, beating 1,110 in 1977.

For big December storms: - Halifax got 54mm on the the 24th, and 35mm on the 5th. - St. John's got 39mm on the 6th and the 26th. - Quebec City got 33mm on the 11th.



Snow
In December we average 16cm of snowfall, and 9 days with snow. 

December 2024's 17.4cm was basically right on the average, but only 6 days recorded snow.

At the end of December we average around 15cm snowdepth. Even with the mild temperatures and average snowfall, the local stations are all above average. Elk Island is at the top with 30cm, and the airport has 24cm.

For total snowfall so far Moncton is at the top with 77cm. Calgary had gotten off to an early start in November, but in December they only got 6cm, so their total of 40cm is just below Edmonton's 41cm.

For snowdepth measurements Dawson City is at the top with 43cm, Saskatoon has 28cm, and then Edmonton has 24cm.



January
In January on-average we get 12 days with Highs above freezing. But January is also our biggest month for deepfreezes, with an average of 8 Lows of -20°C. January's average snowfall is 22cm.