January 2026 Review

And somehow it's February. There's still plenty of winter left, but let's take a look back at Edmonton's weather for January 2026.

January 2026 was warm but not unusual.

The average High of -2.4°C was the 21st warmest on record. The average Low of -12.3°C was 25th warmest.

That's in basically the same range as 2025, 2023, 2022, and 2014-2020. Recent cool Januarys were 2024 & 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 above the historic average. December & February haven't changed nearly as much.

Edmonton's outlying stations have shorter histories than downtown, but they've also seen big jumps in January temperatures since the 1970s.





High Temperatures

January's Highs were a little cool, then really warm, then a little cool, and finally a little warm. 

Overall 21 Highs were above freezing, with 2 records on the 12th and 14th. 10 Highs were below average.

January averages 12 above-freezing Highs, and 2026 got 12.

We had 8 Highs get to 5°C, when the average is around 4. 

And we had 2 Highs get to 10°C, which is pretty rare, but which also happened in 2024.

January averages 2 -20°C Highs, but 2026's coldest was -15.7°C.





January 2026 Heatwave

January's mid-month heatwave had 6 5°C Highs in-a-row. That tied 2015 for January's 2nd longest streak on record. 1942 & 1889 both got to 7 in-a-row.

January has only ever recorded 24 Highs of 10°C. 2026 got 2, along with 2024, and a bunch of other years. And 1906 actually got 4.

10.3°C on the 12th was our 15th warmest January High. 11.6°C on the 14th was the 6th warmest. Those both set new daily records.



Low Temperatures

For January's Lows, January 13th set a new record of 1.7°C. 18 Lows were above average, and 13 were below. The coldest was -27.5°C on the 23rd.

January averages around 7 -20°C Lows, and 2026 got 5.

2 of those got to -25°C, when we average around 3.

And no -30°C Lows. Even in January those are hit or miss: 2024, 2022, 2021, 2015...

And we had 1 above-freezing Low. Recently 2025 got 3, 2022 & 2023 got 1, 2020 got 2...



Cold Days So Far

By the end of January we average around 15 -20°C Lows, and so far this winter we're at 18, thanks mostly to December.

And we've had 8 -25°C Lows, which is right on average.

And no -30°C Lows so far (last winter's only -30°C waited until February 18th).

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.

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



Warm & Cold Months

2026 gives us another orange/warm January.

The average High of -2.4°C was -6.3°C warmer than the 20th century average. The average Low of -12.3°C was 6°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 a little cool in central an eastern Canada.

Calgary was at the top with a High 6.6°C above their 20th century average, followed by Edmonton's 6.3°C.

Toronto was at the bottom with a High -2.2°C below their average.

Calgary also got the mid-month heatwave, along with 3 new records on the 13th, 14th & 17th.

January 14th's 17.4°C, which was their 2nd hottest January High on record.



Snow

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

2026 was a little low with 12.2cm over 7 days. That gave us a break after our extremely snowy December.

By this point of the winter we average 66cm of snowfall This winter we're up at 84.2cm, mostly due to the 59.9cm in December.



Snow Across Canada

This chart is pretty messy, but it is the snow totals so far across the country. St. John's is in the lead with over 211cm. Ottawa, Toronto & Montréal are all around 150cm. And then there's everybody else.

The big outliers so far this winter for snow are Toronto, with 151cm tying their record from 1951-1952. And Charlottetown's 74cm is well below their average of around 300cm for this time of year. Calgary's 46cm is also pretty low.

These were the big storms across the country for January.

Toronto was the winner with 46cm on the 25th, and 20cm on the 15th. Ottawa & St. John's also got 20cm+ days. Edmonton's biggest was 4cm on the 1st.

Toronto's 46.2cm was its 2nd snowiest day since 1880, behind 48.3cm on December 11th, 1944.

And 88.6cm was their 3rd snowiest January, and their 4th snowiest month. January 1999 got to 118.4cm.



Snowdepth

At the end of January we average around 20cm of snowdepth. This winter the snowy December pushed us way up, and the January heatwave brought us back down a bit. The airport is the lowest local station with only 21cm, while Blatchford & Elk Island are at 37cm.

Our big melt usually gets started around the first week of March, so we've still got plenty of snow season left. We usually don't get down to zero snow until late March. And some years like 2020 & 2018 drag into mid-April.

Back at the end of December Edmonton's snowdepth was well ahead of everyone else.

But January's storms gave a big bump to Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec City & Halifax, pushing them up over 40cm.



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 2025, 2021 & 2019 all had long deepfreezes.

On average February is the least snowy main winter month, with about 14cm.

It will still be another month and a bit before our temperatures really start climbing towards spring. And that's when snow usually really starts to drop, until we're snowfree around two months from now.

Snow Removal?

Fine, let's talk about snow removal. 

For the 5 big winter months of November-March we average around 20cm of snow. February is a bit of an under-achiever compared to its neighbours, around 14cm. The other months can get snow, but it's more hit-or-miss.

In December 2025 we got 59.9cm, so 3x the average.

That was the airport's snowiest December on record. Although Blatchford got to 73cm in 1933, and 81.5cm in 1893.

Ge got a few reasonable snowfalls in November and early December.

But from the 16th through the 26th we got the 44.3cm, which led to most of our problems.

That snow coincided with a long stretch of temperatures 10-15°C below average. Also, the holidays.

A 10cm storm is pretty big for us, and they tend to make a mess of things. In a typical winter we will get 1 or 2 of them. 3 would be a big year. 

But December 2025 gave us 3 of those in the span of a week and a half.

The bubbles here are snowfall totals for each month. (Blatchford used to record snow, but now it's just the airport) 

December 2025's 59.9cm was the biggest month since January 2011. Before that Blatchford had a snowy January 1999, and November 1996 was big for both.

Here we've just got the 60cm months (well, 59.9cm) going back to 1880. 

In that time the two stations have only had 19 of those.

They used to be a bit more common, but in "recent" history it's: 1960, 1974, 1982, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2011, 2025.

Here we've just got the 40cm months, or 2x average.

In recent memory the only time that we've gotten 2 of those in-a-row was Nov-Dec 2013. Before that you need to go back to 1965.

So when we do get a big month, afterwards things are usually closer to average.

And now, we get to the point of all of this.

In cities like Ottawa & Montréal the average snowfall in December-February is ~50cm per month.

So they get what we just got, but 3~ish months of it in-a-row, every winter.

Here are the monthly bubbles for Edmonton, Ottawa & Montréal.

Edmonton has more bubbles, because our snow season is longer. But our bubbles are generally a lot smaller.

Here we've got the 40cm & 60cm months. 

In Ottawa & Montréal basically every winter gets at least 2 40cm months in a row.

And basically every winter gets at least 1 60cm month. Ottawa had 3 in-a-row in 2022-2023.

For a bit more fun, these are 100cm months.

Since 2000 Montréal has had 2, and Ottawa has had 6.

Going back to the 1880s Edmonton has never had one, while before 1930 Ottawa often had more than 1 per year.

Earlier we saw that Edmonton might get 1-2 10cm storms across a whole winter. 

Ottawa & Montréal get a bunch more. They'll get 8 over a much shorter timeframe. 

And 20cm might happen every few years around here, but they will get a few each winter.

So you can't really compare Edmonton's snow to Montréal & Ottawa. 

We average 120cm (a bit less in recent years) mostly spread across Nov-Mar (5 months), with a bit in the shoulder-season. 

Ottawa & Montréal average 230cm & 200cm, mostly spread across Dec-Feb (3 months).

But don't they get more melting than us, so the snow disappears?

Well actually, in December-February we average more 0°C and 5°C Highs than Ottawa & Montréal, and a lot more than Quebec City.

I don't know where their snow goes, but they definitely don't get to rely on chinooks.

2025 Year-In-Review: Part 3 - Snow

And finally we have reached the end of our 2025 Year-in-Review, as we dig into Snow. How was the snow for Edmonton and other Canadian cities last year?

(Blatchford no longer records snowfall, so most of the numbers will be from the International Airport)



Monthly Snow

Normally we talk about snow each winter, but today is the 2025 summary, so it's January-March and November-December.

March & December were well above average, while February was really low.

April & October were both snowfree. 

For April the only other time that has happened at the airport was 1998, although Blatchford had a number of snowfree Aprils.

And October is snowfree every few years, like 2022, 2021, 2015...

December's 59.9cm was the biggest story.

It was the airport's snowiest December on record, although Blatchford did get 81.5cm in 1893.

And it was our snowiest month since since January 2011's 63.7cm. Before that November 1996 got 73.7cm.



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 2025 the airport recorded 136.1cm. That's not super exciting, but it is the snowiest year since 2018's 166cm.



Snow Across Canada

For these cities across Canada Charlottetown was at the top with 447.4cm, which is pretty average for them.

Calgary's 81.9cm is the biggest outlier, because they average around 140cm in a year.



Last & First Snowfalls

In 2025 our final spring snowfall was March 28th, which is very early. And the first fall snowfall was November 7th, which is a week or two late.

This is a comparison of the snow seasons. 

Edmonton & Calgary usually start in early October and last through May. Central & Eastern Canada start later in November, and usually end in April. (Regina, Saskatoon & Winnipeg don't do snow measurements anymore)



The Spring Melt

For the spring melt, our snow was basically gone in the last week of March. But then a big March storm bounced it back up until the first week of April.

This one is pretty busy, but it shows the spring 2025 snow depths for other cities. 

Many cities were down to 0cm by late March, but then got a final quick blip. Dawson City & Saskatoon held on the longest, and even they were done by the second week of April.



Fall Snow

For fall snowdepth the locals stations didn't get started until November 28th, which is really late. And then with all of the December snowfall things really took off around the middle of the month.

A busy chart again, but for fall snowdepth a lot of the cities here got started around December 1st. Edmonton's snowy December pushed us ahead of the pack.



Snowstorms

For snowstorms the biggest days were March 27 with 14.4cm, and December 17th with 13cm.

...but both of those were part of multi-day snowstorms. 

The March 27-28 storm dropped a total of 24cm, and December 16-17 dropped 18.6cm. Both of those are pretty big for us, with most winters not getting an 18cm+ strom.

Across the country the biggest single-day snowfalls were: 

• Charlottetown with 46cm, and 6 other 30cm & 20cm days. 
• Montréal with 36.8cm & 34cm 
• Ottawa with 33.4cm & 26.8cm 
• St. John's with 21.8cm

Winter Rain

It always feels weird when it happens, but winter rain is not too unusual for Edmonton.

We might average around 3 rainy days in January, February & December, but 2025 actually had 8. That's the most since 2015's 9.

And that finally brings us to the end of our long look back at the weather for 2025.